DIGITAL CASH TRANSFERS IN THE TIME OF COVID 19 Opportunities and Considerations for Womenrsquos Inclusion and Empowerment

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DIGITAL CASH TRANSFERS

IN THE TIME OF COVID 19

Opportunities and Considerations for

Womenrsquos Inclusion and Empowerment1

I The new reality of COVID-19 is putting womenrsquos empowerment and gender equality at risk

Around the world women are being hit hard by the eco-nomic impacts of COVID-19 As the fallout from the pan-demic deepens so do the short and longer term effects on womenrsquos empowerment2 The insecurity and lack of social protection that characterize informal temporary unpaid la-bor put millions of women and their families at extreme risk in many developing countries most women in paid work were working informally - around 95 percent in Asia and 89 percent in Sub-Saharan Africa3 If the risks faced by women are not actively addressed the COVID-19 cri-sis is likely to widen already existing gender inequalities including the loss of livelihoods threats to sexual and re-productive health the burden of care and increased vio-lence against women at home4

Governments and multilateral organizations are rapidly de-veloping and expanding social protection systems to reach more people more quickly with the assistance they need to weather and recover from the crisis As of July 10 200 countries and territories have expanded or introduced so-cial protection measures in response to COVID-19 which is a more than four-fold increase reaching 915 million new beneficiaries since March 20205 Social assistance is al-ready being adapted in several ways coverage has been expanded benefits increased and administrative require-ments made simpler and more user-friendly which are all welcome developments In many countries governments are opting to digitize government-to-person (G2P) pay-ments to limit the risks of personal contact and crowding

when people collect their assistance and to rapidly dis-burse funds at an unprecedented scale6

Programs designed to address gender gaps can have long-term benefits for womenrsquos empowerment We envision a future in which the lives of women in poverty will be im-proved because they have greater financial independence and agency Our hypothesis is that direct government cash transfers to low-income women as part of a well-designed financially-inclusive G2P program that takes gender biases into account can increase womenrsquos control over their per-sonal financial decisions enhance their prospects for eco-nomic recovery and empowerment and improve resilience in the long run

Yet we have already seen that rapid responses can result in programs that overwhelmingly fail to address the spe-cific impacts of COVID-19 on women and girls7 Experi-ence from the Ebola crisis and elsewhere has shown that the ldquotyranny of the urgentrdquo often sidelines gender analysis and action8 Most countries are not yet reporting publicly sex-disaggregated information about beneficiaries except for categorical programs directed for example to widows or to single mothers The World Bankrsquos and the Interna-tional Labour Organizationrsquos (ILO) valuable inventories of emerging programs are not currently publishing sex-dis-aggregated information Social protection systems that ig-nore gender inequality will likely fail to mitigate the risks of COVID-19 for women and at worst could further exacer-bate inequalities9 This is especially so when women are sidelined from positions of leadership limiting their ability to influence and inform the design of policy and program responses As governments take bold actions to adapt and extend social protection by leveraging digital platforms to help offset COVID-19rsquos severe economic impacts it is criti-cal that programs do not inadvertently reinforce inequalities

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DIGITAL CASH TRANSFERS

IN THE TIME OF COVID 19

Opportunities and Considerations for

Womenrsquos Inclusion and Empowerment1

I The new reality of COVID-19 is putting womenrsquos empowerment and gender equality at risk

Around the world women are being hit hard by the eco-nomic impacts of COVID-19 As the fallout from the pan-demic deepens so do the short and longer term effects on womenrsquos empowerment2 The insecurity and lack of social protection that characterize informal temporary unpaid la-bor put millions of women and their families at extreme risk in many developing countries most women in paid work were working informally - around 95 percent in Asia and 89 percent in Sub-Saharan Africa3 If the risks faced by women are not actively addressed the COVID-19 cri-sis is likely to widen already existing gender inequalities including the loss of livelihoods threats to sexual and re-productive health the burden of care and increased vio-lence against women at home4

Governments and multilateral organizations are rapidly de-veloping and expanding social protection systems to reach more people more quickly with the assistance they need to weather and recover from the crisis As of July 10 200 countries and territories have expanded or introduced so-cial protection measures in response to COVID-19 which is a more than four-fold increase reaching 915 million new beneficiaries since March 20205 Social assistance is al-ready being adapted in several ways coverage has been expanded benefits increased and administrative require-ments made simpler and more user-friendly which are all welcome developments In many countries governments are opting to digitize government-to-person (G2P) pay-ments to limit the risks of personal contact and crowding

when people collect their assistance and to rapidly dis-burse funds at an unprecedented scale6

Programs designed to address gender gaps can have long-term benefits for womenrsquos empowerment We envision a future in which the lives of women in poverty will be im-proved because they have greater financial independence and agency Our hypothesis is that direct government cash transfers to low-income women as part of a well-designed financially-inclusive G2P program that takes gender biases into account can increase womenrsquos control over their per-sonal financial decisions enhance their prospects for eco-nomic recovery and empowerment and improve resilience in the long run

Yet we have already seen that rapid responses can result in programs that overwhelmingly fail to address the spe-cific impacts of COVID-19 on women and girls7 Experi-ence from the Ebola crisis and elsewhere has shown that the ldquotyranny of the urgentrdquo often sidelines gender analysis and action8 Most countries are not yet reporting publicly sex-disaggregated information about beneficiaries except for categorical programs directed for example to widows or to single mothers The World Bankrsquos and the Interna-tional Labour Organizationrsquos (ILO) valuable inventories of emerging programs are not currently publishing sex-dis-aggregated information Social protection systems that ig-nore gender inequality will likely fail to mitigate the risks of COVID-19 for women and at worst could further exacer-bate inequalities9 This is especially so when women are sidelined from positions of leadership limiting their ability to influence and inform the design of policy and program responses As governments take bold actions to adapt and extend social protection by leveraging digital platforms to help offset COVID-19rsquos severe economic impacts it is criti-cal that programs do not inadvertently reinforce inequalities

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and harmful gender norms Informed by an understanding of how men and women are differently situated and impact-ed by the pandemic it is both feasible and imperative to in-tentionally include and empower women as new programs policies and systems to deliver cash transfers are designed and implemented

In 2019 a consortium of social protection gender equality and digital payments experts developed a three-pronged framework ndash Digitize Direct Design ndash aimed at enhanc-ing womenrsquos economic empowerment through cash trans-fers10 The D3 framework offers a bold experience- and evidence-based vision for accelerating pathways to inclu-sion and empowerment of women through cash transfers 11 Digitization of transfers may not be possible for all coun-tries to do easily and quickly But for those governments that already have digital infrastructures in place or are starting to design and implement them this brief will advise them on how to digitize cash transfers in ways that proactively empower women and support their inclusion Building on the D3 Framework for Womenrsquos Economic Empowerment via G2P programs it outlines why women are at heightened risk of exclusion during the rapid scaling and digitization of cash transfers and it offers concrete policy design options to mitigate exclusion risks and maximize impact

II Why are women at higher risk of exclusion from scaled-up cash transfer response to COVID-19

The digitization of cash transfers has emerged as an attrac-tive policy solution for countries seeking to expand social assistance to alleviate the economic hardships created by COVID-19 and to advance financial inclusion Indeed coun-tries with advanced G2P payment ecosystems are able to move quickly Chile India and Thailand for example were able to leverage digital ID systems to support the unique identification of eligible beneficiaries and facilitate direct deposit payments to accounts linked to trusted ID creden-tials12 Such digital approaches can also contribute to ex-panding program coverage while generating efficiencies and cost savings through reduced leakage

There remain many challenges however to ensuring that digitization does not exacerbate the exclusion of women and girls For countries that are facing economic collapse and soaring poverty as well as potential social unrest there is a premium on speed and rapid response Yet even where programs are targeting women the risks of exclusion are significant13 In a three-country 2019 assessment of wom-

enrsquos experience of cash transfer programs in India Pakistan and Tanzania women were often unaware of their benefit entitlements the timing of disbursements what money was available in their accounts and how to use the accounts 14

Five common barriers need to be addressed in order to design and implement the most inclusive and effective cash-based responses to COVID-19

1 The Gender Gap in Financial Access It is difficult to rapidly introduce and scale up G2P digital payments to wom-en where there are large barriers to financial inclusion par-ticularly in countries where the appropriate regulatory frame-work payment infrastructure and digital financial services are not yet established The number of people excluded from the formal financial sector fell from 25 billion world-wide in 2011 to 17 billion in 2017 But more than half or 56 percent of those still excluded are women There has been a persistent gender gap in financial inclusion in developing countries standing at 9 percentage points since 2011 despite significant progress in several countries such as India where the financial inclusion gap fell from 20 percentage points to 6 percentage points between 2014 and 2017 15 In several cases the gap has worsened In Bangladesh overall financial inclusion rose from 31 percent to 50 percent between 2014 and 201716 but the gender gap widened from 9 percentage points to 29 percentage points over the same period

Accumulating evidence points to key barriers to womenrsquos financial account ownership These include lack of trust in banking institutions discriminatory practices and rules as well as women lacking documentation to open an account insufficient funds and the cost of owning a financial ac-count17 Adverse social norms that restrict womenrsquos work outside the home also can be a major barrier to women earning an income and saving enough money to open an account For example almost three quarters of Pakistani men do not think it is acceptable for women to work out-side the home if they want to18 Norms around care respon-sibilities often mean that women need to stay at home or must work fewer hours or for lower pay19 In hard-to-reach or rural settings there frequently are few bank branches ATM machines or mobile money agents limiting womenrsquos ability to both open accounts and access funds

2 The Gender Gap in Official IDs Identification (ID) is often required to enable identity verification for social pro-tection programs and for meeting know-your-customer (KYC) requirements for opening financial accounts When people are unable to access official IDs or cannot reliable prove who they are they can face difficulties in accessing govern-ment programs that they would otherwise be eligible for

5

Lack of trusted identification can also block people from accessing the financial system when KYC requirements for identity verification are restrictive20 Women can face a combination of legal procedural economic and social barriers to obtaining official IDs In some countries women need to present more documents than men to obtain an ID or even be accompanied by a male relative In Benin and Pakistan for example a married woman cannot apply for a national ID in the same way as a married man21 Women are also often less able to afford fees for identity documents or they have nei-ther the time nor resources to travel to distant registration points making the ID process too onerous and costly for them22 Data from the 2018 ID4D Global Dataset indicate that an esti-mated one billion people do not have an official proof of identity23 The data suggests a gender gap in low-income countries where close to 44 percent of women lack ID compared to 28 percent of men24

3 The Gender Gap in Mobile Phone Ownership While mobile is not the only way to make digital transfers it is one of the most widely used digital account channels and is an increasingly criticalutilized means of communicating program and pay-ment information It is more difficult

FIGURE 2 Gender gaps in mobile phone ownership

Source Gallup World Poll

for women who do not have access to cell phones and where restrictive reg-ulations limit the operation of mobile operators Gender gaps and exclusion from mobile phone ownership across 150 countries show that almost 500 million women were not connected in 201725 The largest gender gaps were in South Asia (20 percent) Sub-Saharan Africa (13 percent) and the Middle East and North Africa (10 percent)

This digital exclusion has been traced to lack of identification lack of afford-ability of phones and adverse norms26 With SIM registration now mandatory in over 150 countries lack of govern-ment-recognized identity documents can pose a significant barrier In low-income countries lack of identi-fication is strongly negatively correlat-ed with mobile ownership even after

controlling for characteristics such as income age and rural residence27 Normative constraints can also be severe They operate as a key driver of gaps in Bangladesh where 87 percent of men own a phone compared with only 67 per-cent of women28 While gender gaps in mobile ownership have narrowed over time women remain less able to access vital information from the government and health services29 Figure 2 suggests that there is a significant risk of exclu-sion for women without cell phones when the delivery of

FIGURE 1 Gender gaps in account ownership

Source Findex database

6 7

information applications and the assistance itself is in-creasingly digital 30

4 Program Design that Fails to Identify or Seek to Close Gender Gaps Overlapping disadvantages of lower levels of literacy and numeracy and higher levels of infor-mality and economic exclusion often mean that fewer women than men are able to apply for and access benefits or under-stand how to open and use financial accounts Program de-sign needs to account for the likelihood that women are not in paid work are more likely to work in the informal sector are much more likely to take on the role of main caregivers and are often mobility constrained by social norms rather than default to a program that works for men Examples of the latter include requiring beneficiaries to appear in per-son to meet various program requirements and using the mobile phone as the sole means of communication about program benefits Program designs often lack strong ca-pacity-building components that support womenrsquos skills to successfully manage their accounts31

5 Insufficient Gender Data and Analysis to Inform De-cisions Gender data gaps -- specifically the collection and analysis of empirical (quantitative and qualitative) sex-dis-aggregated data -- weaken our understanding of the con-straints facing and needs of women and girls and can lead to ineffective program design inadequate benefit levels and insufficient monitoring and feedback loops This will illumi-nate such basic questions as the profile of poverty and livelihoods and COVID-19 impacts thereon Do poor wom-en have their own financial accounts and do they own cell phones These diagnostics identify barriers that need to be addressed as part of program development For example in Tanzania the Financial Inclusion Tracker Survey revealed that 70 percent of poor women did not have a financial account neither bank nor mobile money32 Data are also needed to inform program operators about how to mitigate unintended adverse consequences especially the risk that cash transfers to women can worsen the risk of violence against women in the home33

Current data gaps mean that we often only have a par-tial snapshot of the lives of women and girls and the con-straints they face34 Readily accessible ways to cast light on critical questions need to be applied through use of exist-ing data and the types of rapid assessments recommended in Appendix 2 These can illuminate the risks needs and hardships faced by women and inform program design and reforms that support women such as making adjustments in benefit size and the timing of disbursements

III Guidance for policymakers on empowering women through the rapid scale-up of digital cash transfers

Deliberate programmatic and policy decisions taken today can proactively empower women and support their inclu-sion during and well beyond the COVID-19 crisis35 Given the urgency and volume of social protection responses to the crisis decisionmakers and policymakers need practical guidance At the same time there is such a diversity of set-tings that general prescriptions are impossible and it is not feasible to create entirely new payment ecosystems amid a crisis In some cases however the crisis may represent an opportunity to fast track changes that had already been considered or which were underway and if done right they can enable outsized gains for women and affected communities as they recover and rebuild from the crisis

The D3 Framework outlines pathways to address gender inequalities as part of program responses via three basic prongs ndash Digitize Direct and Design This approach is flex-ible and adaptable but performs best when certain core enablers are in place36 such as effective public financial management systems network reliability infrastructure readiness and pro-financial inclusion policy and regulations Below we describe each prong and make recommenda-tions for overcoming various barriers

1 Digitize

An electronic payments system offers the possibility of scaling up G2P social assistance programs at low cost es-pecially for reaching remote or hard-to-access people and places A digitized social protection program that promotes womenrsquos economic empowerment should be reliable ac-cessible flexible secure and accountable While digital G2P systems have many advantages especially amidst a pandemic what is possible depends on the extent to which digital payment infrastructure appropriate regulations and digital financial services (DFS) are in place Digitization can be a useful means for reducing womenrsquos exclusion by providing access to money closer to where women live and work and by allowing women to receive funds in dif-ferent kinds of accounts among other benefits Countries that have advanced G2P digital payment systems can push payments out at speed and expand to additional recipients through wider use of retail agent networks as in Thailand-and Morocco 37

7

Recommendations in this category include

sect Consider distribution of mobile phones to wom-en without them and explore innovative financ-ing models Mobile phones enable women to access information online about social protection financial services and other types of support services38 Even if there is a risk that the phones will be used by oth-er family members or lost the benefits for women in need particularly given the scale and urgency of the crisis could be considerable39

sect Explore private sector partnerships to subsidize airtime for the poorest and provide key information services and apps for free 40

sect Seek ways to reduce transaction costs and strengthen interoperability across financial ser-vice providers to overcome barriers associated with the cost of sendingreceiving cash

sect Create broader agent networks and more conve-nient cash-incash-out (CICO) points Most people need to be able to convert digital money into cash CICO networks play a critical role in transitioning from cash-based to fully digital systems and lack of an ac-cessible network can penalize women who are often more time- and mobility-constrained than men41 Ex-panding CICO points for both new and existing bene-ficiaries even if not explicitly for women is shown to significantly expand access to digital financial services as seen in Ecuador and India Innovation and expan-sion of CICO is already proving urgent as COVID-19 presents challenges for cash management in agent net-works42

sect Cash withdrawal needs to occur in ways that re-spect social distancing measures43 Even beneficia-ries with bank or mobile money accounts who receive G2P digitally need to access cash requiring program design that considers ways to avoid exacerbating spread of the coronavirus In India where cash trans-fers are being delivered through bank accounts a stag-gered disbursement schedule tied to the last number of the bank account seeks to avoid having large num-bers of beneficiaries trying to cash out the same day India Post has also equipped postal workers with hand-held devices to go door to door and enable people to withdraw cash based on biometric authentication from their own homes44 In Ecuador where cash transfers are being delivered over the counter through bank and agent networks recipients are assigned withdrawal dates based upon the last number of their ID45

sect Consider regulatory changes In countries where an advanced digital payments ecosystem does not yet

exist and DFS adoption is low For example introduc-ing simplified KYC and basic or no-frills bank accounts lifting or increasing transaction limits facilitating the expansion of agent networks and promoting interop-erability all can help smooth the way for scaling up digital G2P payments Tunisia Peru and Jordan have relaxed regulations to facilitate rapid deployment of G2P through digital channels

sect Incentivize electronic payments acceptance The level of digital money in the country should be as-sessed when selecting a cash benefit delivery system Measures to expand electronic payments should con-sider facilitating merchant onboarding and providing them with incentives to accept digital money

sect Explore alternate digital transfer methods in mar-kets where cellular technology is not widely available or women do not have access to mobile phones An ATM card pre-loaded with cash allows a recipient to withdraw money even if she does not have a financial account A debit card can be used to pay directly for goods at merchants that have a point-of-service (PoS) device In some markets card-less biometrics enable payments or disbursements at cash-out points using a fingerprint to authenticate the recipient While these al-ternative methods can enable access to needed funds when payments are not linked to a mobile or bank ac-count they do not offer a pathway to sustain financial inclusion

2 Direct the money into her account

Providing the cash transfer into an account registered in a womanrsquos names and to which she has direct access pro-vides safer and more secure access more control over use reduces the risks of having funds appropriated by other family members and offers a gateway to additional finan-cial services like savings credit and insurance She should have control over the account which ideally would be a private fully-functioning financial account that can be uti-lized by her for other transactions At the same time it is critical to understand and mitigate risks in environments where this increases risk of burden on or violence against women46 47

Recommendations include

sect Make women the default recipient of cash trans-fer schemes In many countries by default the head of household is the primary recipient of cash trans-fers By way of contrast Perursquos response to COVID-19 delivers stimulus checks to women in the household by default48 India which benefited from pre-existing sex-disaggregated data from its PMJDY program cou-

8 9

pled its existing payment and ID technology to rapidly scale up to send cash transfers to 200 million of the countryrsquos poorest women49

sect Ease KYC requirements Procedures to register for cash transfers into a financial accounts should not be excessively burdensome for poor women A tiered KYC approach with minimal identity verification require-ments for low-risk transactions as we see in India Peru and Nigeria50 can improve accessibility Under tiered KYC if the woman is opening an account to re-ceive G2P payments it may be considered at a lower risk for money laundering and terrorist-financing activi-ties since the sender is the government and hence can qualify for low-tier KYC and possibly even exemptions Identification alternatives that would meet Anti-Money LaunderingCombating Financing of Terrorism (AMLCFT) requirements such as using risk analysis and various types of verification even if women lack the preferred types of official ID also could expand access for women51

sect Leverage official identification systems to facilitate registering for benefits as well as for account opening Pakistanrsquos Ehsaas program was able to quickly register 73 million in their COVID-19 cash transfer response by allowing for rapid enrollment using the national ID and SMS messaging to register for the transfers52 al-though pre-existing gender gaps in that country sug-gest large risks of exclusion53 Where foundational ID systems such as national ID systems are non-existent not reliable or difficult to access for poor women so-cial protection programs may also rely on functional ID systems for effective payment delivery54

sect Seek to enable womenrsquos onboarding Self-help groups (SHGs) can provide information and support the expansion of payment systems in ways that are re-liable and safe for women Womenrsquos groups55 and peer support groups56 can serve as networks for more effi-cient communication57 Producer cooperatives savings groups non-profits indigenous peoplersquos organizations are all examples of groups that can assist in the out-reach to women In the Indian state of Bihar the SHG entity Jeevika has supported targeting and enrolling over two million women into the Public Distribution System and it has provided a critical communication feedback loop between beneficiaries and the local gov-ernment

sect Avert risks of backlash and undue burden In set-tings where making payments to women are deemed infeasible due to adverse social norms directing pay-ments to women during acute periods of the crisis such as during lockdowns may intensify household

tensions and exacerbate the risk of violence58 a key risk to avoid in COVID-19 Direct transfers to women may also increase the burden on women by requiring them to be the sole collector of G2P payments To off-set these risks multiple household members could be authorized to make transactions and efforts should be made to ensure that program information (eligi-bility criteria transfer purpose amount duration and so on) are communicated transparently to the whole community reaching both men and women

3 Design the program for her empowerment

Social protection programs should aim to enhance pros-pects for womenrsquos economic empowerment including through appropriate coverage adequate financing and transfer size suitable consumer protection and measures to support capabilities as well as avoiding onerous appli-cation and onboarding processes that can exclude women Adjustments to existing programs to respond to the crisis have already begun around the world many with the inten-tion of empowering women in vulnerable households

Recommendations include

sect Relax conditions on existing cash transfer programs such as conditions tied to childrenrsquos schooling or health which can reduce the burden on women who are typically responsible for fulfilling these conditions59 This move can reduce the spread of the virus by lim-iting interactions with authorities and providing more economic support to more families It is important to clearly communicate when conditionality is paused and when it will resume to ensure confidence in recipients that they wont lose eligibility to conditional cash trans-fer program

sect Expand and adapt social registries and manage-ment information systems for collecting sex-dis-aggregated data Systems need to reflect economic impacts of COVID-19 given significant increases in the numbers of poor and the depth of poverty and it is critical that relevant sex-disaggregated data is collected It will inform decision making and be used to monitor and measure impacts and coverage on a timely basis (see Appendix 2) Social registries could gather better data to understand womenrsquos specific vulnerabilities and constraints and improve targeting which would help during future crises (ie ldquoadaptive shock responsive social protectionrdquo) This will require concerted outreach efforts to the most marginalized Social registries could also work to de-bias data and move away from the concept of lsquohousehold headrsquo to-wards the more neutral lsquoprimary respondentrsquo60

9

sect Work with local governments NGO networks and associations to identify those in need These groups can draw on information sources that are often better and more up to date than those of the central government Informal sector workers could be reached by working through associations that represent them Support to vulnerable households in Rwanda for in-stance includes local leaders doing the targeting for a food distribution program (door-to-door provision of basic food stuffs every three days) and cash transfers to casual workers61 62

sect Use diverse modes of communication for infor-mation and onboarding The gender gaps in mo-bile phone ownership mean that mobile phone-based communications should be complemented by other platforms including internet television radio financial service providers agent banking networks and trusted local organizations and community members 63 Con-ducting field research at the design stage and incorpo-rating appropriate communication about the decisions around cash transfers can increase acceptance levels and mitigate risks for example research from Bangla-desh found high levels of acceptance by both men and women about moving their benefits from cash delivery to digital via the mobile money account of a family member 64

sect Include well-functioning grievance redressal sys-tems with remote options to allow beneficiaries to communicate when and where issues arise and ensure that consumer protection works for women Bangla-desh is setting up a call center specifically for G2P beneficiaries to report challenges instead of requiring them to just go to the financial service provider

sect Ensure adequate capacity-building in program de-sign to give women the skills and capabilities needed to successfully understand program parameters man-age accounts and access information and recourse mechanisms65

sect Monitor program functioning Agile and proactive monitoring is needed to ensure receipt of payment is a positive experience Some states in India such as Andhra Pradesh are integrating more proactive collec-tion of recipient feedback by mobile phone to ensure that peoplersquos experiences were satisfactory and to monitor local delivery systems66

sect Increase level and duration of assistance to cov-er the COVID-19 economic crisis Many families are likely to require a full income replacement rather than supplements Some governments have temporar-ily topped up current social assistance benefits -- for example Indonesiarsquos Program Keluarga Harapan (PKH) program which targets its poorest citizens and Ken-yarsquos pension orphan and vulnerable childrenrsquos grant67 In Pakistan the government is giving an additional Rs1000 for the next four months as emergency relief to 45 million women who are existing beneficiaries of its Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) which targets women with a monthly cash transfer 68 The burdens on those caring for sick members and children could be recognized through new or supplemental top-up payments Robust communication with beneficiaries is necessary to ensure that all involved understand what amounts they are receiving in what time frames

sect Introduce new types of targeted cash support There is a range of potential innovations opened up by the crisis Brazil has expanded benefits to informal workers69 From Algeria to Argentina countries are be-ginning to implement payments for caregivers

More broadly and very importantly women should have space and a voice at the table It is critical that women are heard in positions of leadership in order to influence and inform the design implementation and adjustments of programs Existing womenrsquos groups are actively responding to the crisis on various fronts and they should be included to contribute their leadership views ideas and innovations on design and delivery methods

10 11

IV Conclusions and ways forward

The COVID-19 crisis calls for rapid and innovative respons-es and creative solutions to address strains on lives and livelihoods particularly for women and girls Experience underlines the importance of multi-level analysis of gen-der-related gaps and incorporating gender as a priority in program responses 75 Now is the time to ensure that women and girls are not left behind that we are building critical infrastructure for future shocks and that responses intentionally seek to meet their needs Regular monitoring also needs to be in place to address gaps and take steps to address exclusion By affirming their commitment to womenrsquos empowerment through cash transfers and other COVID-related interventions policymakers have a unique opportunity to support women and influence social norms in long-lasting ways that encourage womenrsquos interaction with accounts and help support resilience against future economic shocks As far as possible existing knowledge and data need to be rapidly re-examined and key stake-holder groups and voices of poor women included to help inform rapid responses appropriate to the local setting

The existing momentum around digitization of G2P offers major opportunities to deliver support to people in ways that are both safe and secure and that reduce leakage If support is designed and implemented in gender-inten-tional ways it will ensure that women are not left behind If done well digitization can contribute toward further fi-nancial inclusion and womenrsquos empowerment While short-term workarounds will be needed to get financial support to people in need during the crisis it is important to bear in mind the longer term objectives Given the evolving and fluid nature of the COVID-19 crisis proactive monitoring to guard against inadvertent exclusion and to ensure that vul-nerable people are fully supported with available resources will continue to be important for some time

Gender intentionality is imperative as governments and partners around the world put together rapid responses to the crisis What is needed appropriate and feasible will of course differ by setting But there are important principles and lessons on which we can draw which should inform the crafting of policy and program measures in ways that mitigate the short and long-term impacts of the pandemic on the lives and livelihoods of women and girls If the re-sponse is managed well the crisis presents an opportuni-ty to enhance the economic empowerment of women and build overall resilience

BOX 1 Confronting Trade-offs

Challenges will arise in the midst of a pandemic that require policymakers to make difficult decisions We recommend that in choosing among options explicitly consider the implications for gender equality using all the relevant data and experience that is available Examples of trade-offs include

sect In general cash transfers are more efficient than food transfers providing greater improvements in dietary diversity and quality But food transfers can work better to boost per capita caloric intake and may be needed where basic essentials are difficult or expensive to procure70 Women and children are often the first to reduce food consumption in response to shocks71 Safely increasing in-kind transfers such as food or soap may be recommended especially where mobility is restricted and supply chains are disrupted Several governments have recently delivered basic goods including in India Jamaica and Nigeria72

sect Where women do not have access to phones digital transfers may need to go to males in the household with a phone or other forms of transfers to cash-out points may be used as in Pakistan where women are biometrically authenticated at designated cash-out points73 As noted above messaging should underline that the benefits are intended for the whole family

sect Social assistance programs typically seek to narrowly target the poor and are adjusted to need which is believed to be fiscally responsible However amidst crisis and mass unemployment where economic shocks are being faced across many groups in society lump-sum payments that are as generous as possible are a better route74

11

V Appendix 1 Examples of social protection responses to COVID-19 targeting women

sect Brazilrsquos cash transfer plan provides funds for sin-gle-mother households that are slightly more than the amount given to two-parent households This program has been approved by Congress but still has to go through the Senate

bull However there seem to be some concerns about how well this bill will cover informal workers and if the amount of funds will be enough

sect Indiarsquos cash transfer plan specifically targets women from the poorest segments and directs funds directly into PMJDY accounts which are specific types of ac-counts that aim to make financial inclusion available for all unbanked adults Because PMJDY databases are al-ready sex-disaggregated the Government of India was able to effect a plan to target and distribute 3 months of cash transfers to approximately 200 million low in-come women within one week

bull However a study from Yale found that 176 million poor women (53 percent) lack PMJDY accounts and will may be missed in the cash transfers Further 70 million women in India (21 percent) lack ration cards which grant access to the cen-tral food ration system There is need to create dynamic systems which can include left-out pop-ulations such that more women can be covered through PMJDY and other assistance measures

sect Pakistanrsquos cash transfer program has a separate cate-gory for women Women who were already receiving cash transfers before the pandemic (ldquoEhsaas beneficia-riesrdquo) will get an increased amount of funds under the new COVID-19 plan According to the World Economic Forum (WEF) the majority of Ehsaas transfers to date including pre-COVID-19 have been delivered to wom-en in the family An SMS campaign will be launched to inform citizens of the program

bull However given pre-existing gender gaps there are concerns about exclusion

sect Burkina Fasorsquos president announced plans for a sol-

idarity fund for women vendors as part of a broader social protection plan

bull There is no information out yet about how this plan is being implemented success reach etc

sect Algeria is offering paid leave for all pregnant women and all women who take care of children

sect Argentina is providing paid leave for pregnant women and all workers who have dependent children

sect Bolivia is providing paid leave for pregnant women

sect Egypt is developing a plan that would increase pay-ments to women leaders in rural areas

sect Ethiopiarsquos Harari State is granting paid leave for preg-nant women

sect Mauritania is allocating funds specifically for 30000 homes dependent on women elderly and disabled heads of households

sect South Sudanrsquos Safety Net Project will provide direct grants to vulnerable populations who canrsquot work in-cluding pregnant and breastfeeding women

sect Turkeyrsquos cash transfer plan specifically targets women Increased amounts will be given to new mothers and recent widows

sect Perursquos cash transfers are made to the oldest adult wom-an under 60 (age 18-60) in the household whenever possible If no female in the household meets these criteria a male can receive the money In Peru the de-cision to explicitly enroll women for household benefits was explained by affirming womenrsquos traditional role as ensuring the families well-being76

sect Togo launched Novissi an unconditional cash trans-fer scheme designed to support all Togolese informal workers living in areas where health emergency mea-sures are enforced and whose incomes are disrupt-ed by the COVID-19 response Women and men re-spectively get XOF12250 (US$20) and XOF10500 (US$17) per month to meet basic needs (food wa-ter power communication) It already has 13 million people registered and has sent money to more than 500000 in the region of the capital Greater Lomeacute alone The money is sent via the Tmoney and Flooz mobile money platforms

6 7

information applications and the assistance itself is in-creasingly digital 30

4 Program Design that Fails to Identify or Seek to Close Gender Gaps Overlapping disadvantages of lower levels of literacy and numeracy and higher levels of infor-mality and economic exclusion often mean that fewer women than men are able to apply for and access benefits or under-stand how to open and use financial accounts Program de-sign needs to account for the likelihood that women are not in paid work are more likely to work in the informal sector are much more likely to take on the role of main caregivers and are often mobility constrained by social norms rather than default to a program that works for men Examples of the latter include requiring beneficiaries to appear in per-son to meet various program requirements and using the mobile phone as the sole means of communication about program benefits Program designs often lack strong ca-pacity-building components that support womenrsquos skills to successfully manage their accounts31

5 Insufficient Gender Data and Analysis to Inform De-cisions Gender data gaps -- specifically the collection and analysis of empirical (quantitative and qualitative) sex-dis-aggregated data -- weaken our understanding of the con-straints facing and needs of women and girls and can lead to ineffective program design inadequate benefit levels and insufficient monitoring and feedback loops This will illumi-nate such basic questions as the profile of poverty and livelihoods and COVID-19 impacts thereon Do poor wom-en have their own financial accounts and do they own cell phones These diagnostics identify barriers that need to be addressed as part of program development For example in Tanzania the Financial Inclusion Tracker Survey revealed that 70 percent of poor women did not have a financial account neither bank nor mobile money32 Data are also needed to inform program operators about how to mitigate unintended adverse consequences especially the risk that cash transfers to women can worsen the risk of violence against women in the home33

Current data gaps mean that we often only have a par-tial snapshot of the lives of women and girls and the con-straints they face34 Readily accessible ways to cast light on critical questions need to be applied through use of exist-ing data and the types of rapid assessments recommended in Appendix 2 These can illuminate the risks needs and hardships faced by women and inform program design and reforms that support women such as making adjustments in benefit size and the timing of disbursements

III Guidance for policymakers on empowering women through the rapid scale-up of digital cash transfers

Deliberate programmatic and policy decisions taken today can proactively empower women and support their inclu-sion during and well beyond the COVID-19 crisis35 Given the urgency and volume of social protection responses to the crisis decisionmakers and policymakers need practical guidance At the same time there is such a diversity of set-tings that general prescriptions are impossible and it is not feasible to create entirely new payment ecosystems amid a crisis In some cases however the crisis may represent an opportunity to fast track changes that had already been considered or which were underway and if done right they can enable outsized gains for women and affected communities as they recover and rebuild from the crisis

The D3 Framework outlines pathways to address gender inequalities as part of program responses via three basic prongs ndash Digitize Direct and Design This approach is flex-ible and adaptable but performs best when certain core enablers are in place36 such as effective public financial management systems network reliability infrastructure readiness and pro-financial inclusion policy and regulations Below we describe each prong and make recommenda-tions for overcoming various barriers

1 Digitize

An electronic payments system offers the possibility of scaling up G2P social assistance programs at low cost es-pecially for reaching remote or hard-to-access people and places A digitized social protection program that promotes womenrsquos economic empowerment should be reliable ac-cessible flexible secure and accountable While digital G2P systems have many advantages especially amidst a pandemic what is possible depends on the extent to which digital payment infrastructure appropriate regulations and digital financial services (DFS) are in place Digitization can be a useful means for reducing womenrsquos exclusion by providing access to money closer to where women live and work and by allowing women to receive funds in dif-ferent kinds of accounts among other benefits Countries that have advanced G2P digital payment systems can push payments out at speed and expand to additional recipients through wider use of retail agent networks as in Thailand-and Morocco 37

7

Recommendations in this category include

sect Consider distribution of mobile phones to wom-en without them and explore innovative financ-ing models Mobile phones enable women to access information online about social protection financial services and other types of support services38 Even if there is a risk that the phones will be used by oth-er family members or lost the benefits for women in need particularly given the scale and urgency of the crisis could be considerable39

sect Explore private sector partnerships to subsidize airtime for the poorest and provide key information services and apps for free 40

sect Seek ways to reduce transaction costs and strengthen interoperability across financial ser-vice providers to overcome barriers associated with the cost of sendingreceiving cash

sect Create broader agent networks and more conve-nient cash-incash-out (CICO) points Most people need to be able to convert digital money into cash CICO networks play a critical role in transitioning from cash-based to fully digital systems and lack of an ac-cessible network can penalize women who are often more time- and mobility-constrained than men41 Ex-panding CICO points for both new and existing bene-ficiaries even if not explicitly for women is shown to significantly expand access to digital financial services as seen in Ecuador and India Innovation and expan-sion of CICO is already proving urgent as COVID-19 presents challenges for cash management in agent net-works42

sect Cash withdrawal needs to occur in ways that re-spect social distancing measures43 Even beneficia-ries with bank or mobile money accounts who receive G2P digitally need to access cash requiring program design that considers ways to avoid exacerbating spread of the coronavirus In India where cash trans-fers are being delivered through bank accounts a stag-gered disbursement schedule tied to the last number of the bank account seeks to avoid having large num-bers of beneficiaries trying to cash out the same day India Post has also equipped postal workers with hand-held devices to go door to door and enable people to withdraw cash based on biometric authentication from their own homes44 In Ecuador where cash transfers are being delivered over the counter through bank and agent networks recipients are assigned withdrawal dates based upon the last number of their ID45

sect Consider regulatory changes In countries where an advanced digital payments ecosystem does not yet

exist and DFS adoption is low For example introduc-ing simplified KYC and basic or no-frills bank accounts lifting or increasing transaction limits facilitating the expansion of agent networks and promoting interop-erability all can help smooth the way for scaling up digital G2P payments Tunisia Peru and Jordan have relaxed regulations to facilitate rapid deployment of G2P through digital channels

sect Incentivize electronic payments acceptance The level of digital money in the country should be as-sessed when selecting a cash benefit delivery system Measures to expand electronic payments should con-sider facilitating merchant onboarding and providing them with incentives to accept digital money

sect Explore alternate digital transfer methods in mar-kets where cellular technology is not widely available or women do not have access to mobile phones An ATM card pre-loaded with cash allows a recipient to withdraw money even if she does not have a financial account A debit card can be used to pay directly for goods at merchants that have a point-of-service (PoS) device In some markets card-less biometrics enable payments or disbursements at cash-out points using a fingerprint to authenticate the recipient While these al-ternative methods can enable access to needed funds when payments are not linked to a mobile or bank ac-count they do not offer a pathway to sustain financial inclusion

2 Direct the money into her account

Providing the cash transfer into an account registered in a womanrsquos names and to which she has direct access pro-vides safer and more secure access more control over use reduces the risks of having funds appropriated by other family members and offers a gateway to additional finan-cial services like savings credit and insurance She should have control over the account which ideally would be a private fully-functioning financial account that can be uti-lized by her for other transactions At the same time it is critical to understand and mitigate risks in environments where this increases risk of burden on or violence against women46 47

Recommendations include

sect Make women the default recipient of cash trans-fer schemes In many countries by default the head of household is the primary recipient of cash trans-fers By way of contrast Perursquos response to COVID-19 delivers stimulus checks to women in the household by default48 India which benefited from pre-existing sex-disaggregated data from its PMJDY program cou-

8 9

pled its existing payment and ID technology to rapidly scale up to send cash transfers to 200 million of the countryrsquos poorest women49

sect Ease KYC requirements Procedures to register for cash transfers into a financial accounts should not be excessively burdensome for poor women A tiered KYC approach with minimal identity verification require-ments for low-risk transactions as we see in India Peru and Nigeria50 can improve accessibility Under tiered KYC if the woman is opening an account to re-ceive G2P payments it may be considered at a lower risk for money laundering and terrorist-financing activi-ties since the sender is the government and hence can qualify for low-tier KYC and possibly even exemptions Identification alternatives that would meet Anti-Money LaunderingCombating Financing of Terrorism (AMLCFT) requirements such as using risk analysis and various types of verification even if women lack the preferred types of official ID also could expand access for women51

sect Leverage official identification systems to facilitate registering for benefits as well as for account opening Pakistanrsquos Ehsaas program was able to quickly register 73 million in their COVID-19 cash transfer response by allowing for rapid enrollment using the national ID and SMS messaging to register for the transfers52 al-though pre-existing gender gaps in that country sug-gest large risks of exclusion53 Where foundational ID systems such as national ID systems are non-existent not reliable or difficult to access for poor women so-cial protection programs may also rely on functional ID systems for effective payment delivery54

sect Seek to enable womenrsquos onboarding Self-help groups (SHGs) can provide information and support the expansion of payment systems in ways that are re-liable and safe for women Womenrsquos groups55 and peer support groups56 can serve as networks for more effi-cient communication57 Producer cooperatives savings groups non-profits indigenous peoplersquos organizations are all examples of groups that can assist in the out-reach to women In the Indian state of Bihar the SHG entity Jeevika has supported targeting and enrolling over two million women into the Public Distribution System and it has provided a critical communication feedback loop between beneficiaries and the local gov-ernment

sect Avert risks of backlash and undue burden In set-tings where making payments to women are deemed infeasible due to adverse social norms directing pay-ments to women during acute periods of the crisis such as during lockdowns may intensify household

tensions and exacerbate the risk of violence58 a key risk to avoid in COVID-19 Direct transfers to women may also increase the burden on women by requiring them to be the sole collector of G2P payments To off-set these risks multiple household members could be authorized to make transactions and efforts should be made to ensure that program information (eligi-bility criteria transfer purpose amount duration and so on) are communicated transparently to the whole community reaching both men and women

3 Design the program for her empowerment

Social protection programs should aim to enhance pros-pects for womenrsquos economic empowerment including through appropriate coverage adequate financing and transfer size suitable consumer protection and measures to support capabilities as well as avoiding onerous appli-cation and onboarding processes that can exclude women Adjustments to existing programs to respond to the crisis have already begun around the world many with the inten-tion of empowering women in vulnerable households

Recommendations include

sect Relax conditions on existing cash transfer programs such as conditions tied to childrenrsquos schooling or health which can reduce the burden on women who are typically responsible for fulfilling these conditions59 This move can reduce the spread of the virus by lim-iting interactions with authorities and providing more economic support to more families It is important to clearly communicate when conditionality is paused and when it will resume to ensure confidence in recipients that they wont lose eligibility to conditional cash trans-fer program

sect Expand and adapt social registries and manage-ment information systems for collecting sex-dis-aggregated data Systems need to reflect economic impacts of COVID-19 given significant increases in the numbers of poor and the depth of poverty and it is critical that relevant sex-disaggregated data is collected It will inform decision making and be used to monitor and measure impacts and coverage on a timely basis (see Appendix 2) Social registries could gather better data to understand womenrsquos specific vulnerabilities and constraints and improve targeting which would help during future crises (ie ldquoadaptive shock responsive social protectionrdquo) This will require concerted outreach efforts to the most marginalized Social registries could also work to de-bias data and move away from the concept of lsquohousehold headrsquo to-wards the more neutral lsquoprimary respondentrsquo60

9

sect Work with local governments NGO networks and associations to identify those in need These groups can draw on information sources that are often better and more up to date than those of the central government Informal sector workers could be reached by working through associations that represent them Support to vulnerable households in Rwanda for in-stance includes local leaders doing the targeting for a food distribution program (door-to-door provision of basic food stuffs every three days) and cash transfers to casual workers61 62

sect Use diverse modes of communication for infor-mation and onboarding The gender gaps in mo-bile phone ownership mean that mobile phone-based communications should be complemented by other platforms including internet television radio financial service providers agent banking networks and trusted local organizations and community members 63 Con-ducting field research at the design stage and incorpo-rating appropriate communication about the decisions around cash transfers can increase acceptance levels and mitigate risks for example research from Bangla-desh found high levels of acceptance by both men and women about moving their benefits from cash delivery to digital via the mobile money account of a family member 64

sect Include well-functioning grievance redressal sys-tems with remote options to allow beneficiaries to communicate when and where issues arise and ensure that consumer protection works for women Bangla-desh is setting up a call center specifically for G2P beneficiaries to report challenges instead of requiring them to just go to the financial service provider

sect Ensure adequate capacity-building in program de-sign to give women the skills and capabilities needed to successfully understand program parameters man-age accounts and access information and recourse mechanisms65

sect Monitor program functioning Agile and proactive monitoring is needed to ensure receipt of payment is a positive experience Some states in India such as Andhra Pradesh are integrating more proactive collec-tion of recipient feedback by mobile phone to ensure that peoplersquos experiences were satisfactory and to monitor local delivery systems66

sect Increase level and duration of assistance to cov-er the COVID-19 economic crisis Many families are likely to require a full income replacement rather than supplements Some governments have temporar-ily topped up current social assistance benefits -- for example Indonesiarsquos Program Keluarga Harapan (PKH) program which targets its poorest citizens and Ken-yarsquos pension orphan and vulnerable childrenrsquos grant67 In Pakistan the government is giving an additional Rs1000 for the next four months as emergency relief to 45 million women who are existing beneficiaries of its Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) which targets women with a monthly cash transfer 68 The burdens on those caring for sick members and children could be recognized through new or supplemental top-up payments Robust communication with beneficiaries is necessary to ensure that all involved understand what amounts they are receiving in what time frames

sect Introduce new types of targeted cash support There is a range of potential innovations opened up by the crisis Brazil has expanded benefits to informal workers69 From Algeria to Argentina countries are be-ginning to implement payments for caregivers

More broadly and very importantly women should have space and a voice at the table It is critical that women are heard in positions of leadership in order to influence and inform the design implementation and adjustments of programs Existing womenrsquos groups are actively responding to the crisis on various fronts and they should be included to contribute their leadership views ideas and innovations on design and delivery methods

10 11

IV Conclusions and ways forward

The COVID-19 crisis calls for rapid and innovative respons-es and creative solutions to address strains on lives and livelihoods particularly for women and girls Experience underlines the importance of multi-level analysis of gen-der-related gaps and incorporating gender as a priority in program responses 75 Now is the time to ensure that women and girls are not left behind that we are building critical infrastructure for future shocks and that responses intentionally seek to meet their needs Regular monitoring also needs to be in place to address gaps and take steps to address exclusion By affirming their commitment to womenrsquos empowerment through cash transfers and other COVID-related interventions policymakers have a unique opportunity to support women and influence social norms in long-lasting ways that encourage womenrsquos interaction with accounts and help support resilience against future economic shocks As far as possible existing knowledge and data need to be rapidly re-examined and key stake-holder groups and voices of poor women included to help inform rapid responses appropriate to the local setting

The existing momentum around digitization of G2P offers major opportunities to deliver support to people in ways that are both safe and secure and that reduce leakage If support is designed and implemented in gender-inten-tional ways it will ensure that women are not left behind If done well digitization can contribute toward further fi-nancial inclusion and womenrsquos empowerment While short-term workarounds will be needed to get financial support to people in need during the crisis it is important to bear in mind the longer term objectives Given the evolving and fluid nature of the COVID-19 crisis proactive monitoring to guard against inadvertent exclusion and to ensure that vul-nerable people are fully supported with available resources will continue to be important for some time

Gender intentionality is imperative as governments and partners around the world put together rapid responses to the crisis What is needed appropriate and feasible will of course differ by setting But there are important principles and lessons on which we can draw which should inform the crafting of policy and program measures in ways that mitigate the short and long-term impacts of the pandemic on the lives and livelihoods of women and girls If the re-sponse is managed well the crisis presents an opportuni-ty to enhance the economic empowerment of women and build overall resilience

BOX 1 Confronting Trade-offs

Challenges will arise in the midst of a pandemic that require policymakers to make difficult decisions We recommend that in choosing among options explicitly consider the implications for gender equality using all the relevant data and experience that is available Examples of trade-offs include

sect In general cash transfers are more efficient than food transfers providing greater improvements in dietary diversity and quality But food transfers can work better to boost per capita caloric intake and may be needed where basic essentials are difficult or expensive to procure70 Women and children are often the first to reduce food consumption in response to shocks71 Safely increasing in-kind transfers such as food or soap may be recommended especially where mobility is restricted and supply chains are disrupted Several governments have recently delivered basic goods including in India Jamaica and Nigeria72

sect Where women do not have access to phones digital transfers may need to go to males in the household with a phone or other forms of transfers to cash-out points may be used as in Pakistan where women are biometrically authenticated at designated cash-out points73 As noted above messaging should underline that the benefits are intended for the whole family

sect Social assistance programs typically seek to narrowly target the poor and are adjusted to need which is believed to be fiscally responsible However amidst crisis and mass unemployment where economic shocks are being faced across many groups in society lump-sum payments that are as generous as possible are a better route74

11

V Appendix 1 Examples of social protection responses to COVID-19 targeting women

sect Brazilrsquos cash transfer plan provides funds for sin-gle-mother households that are slightly more than the amount given to two-parent households This program has been approved by Congress but still has to go through the Senate

bull However there seem to be some concerns about how well this bill will cover informal workers and if the amount of funds will be enough

sect Indiarsquos cash transfer plan specifically targets women from the poorest segments and directs funds directly into PMJDY accounts which are specific types of ac-counts that aim to make financial inclusion available for all unbanked adults Because PMJDY databases are al-ready sex-disaggregated the Government of India was able to effect a plan to target and distribute 3 months of cash transfers to approximately 200 million low in-come women within one week

bull However a study from Yale found that 176 million poor women (53 percent) lack PMJDY accounts and will may be missed in the cash transfers Further 70 million women in India (21 percent) lack ration cards which grant access to the cen-tral food ration system There is need to create dynamic systems which can include left-out pop-ulations such that more women can be covered through PMJDY and other assistance measures

sect Pakistanrsquos cash transfer program has a separate cate-gory for women Women who were already receiving cash transfers before the pandemic (ldquoEhsaas beneficia-riesrdquo) will get an increased amount of funds under the new COVID-19 plan According to the World Economic Forum (WEF) the majority of Ehsaas transfers to date including pre-COVID-19 have been delivered to wom-en in the family An SMS campaign will be launched to inform citizens of the program

bull However given pre-existing gender gaps there are concerns about exclusion

sect Burkina Fasorsquos president announced plans for a sol-

idarity fund for women vendors as part of a broader social protection plan

bull There is no information out yet about how this plan is being implemented success reach etc

sect Algeria is offering paid leave for all pregnant women and all women who take care of children

sect Argentina is providing paid leave for pregnant women and all workers who have dependent children

sect Bolivia is providing paid leave for pregnant women

sect Egypt is developing a plan that would increase pay-ments to women leaders in rural areas

sect Ethiopiarsquos Harari State is granting paid leave for preg-nant women

sect Mauritania is allocating funds specifically for 30000 homes dependent on women elderly and disabled heads of households

sect South Sudanrsquos Safety Net Project will provide direct grants to vulnerable populations who canrsquot work in-cluding pregnant and breastfeeding women

sect Turkeyrsquos cash transfer plan specifically targets women Increased amounts will be given to new mothers and recent widows

sect Perursquos cash transfers are made to the oldest adult wom-an under 60 (age 18-60) in the household whenever possible If no female in the household meets these criteria a male can receive the money In Peru the de-cision to explicitly enroll women for household benefits was explained by affirming womenrsquos traditional role as ensuring the families well-being76

sect Togo launched Novissi an unconditional cash trans-fer scheme designed to support all Togolese informal workers living in areas where health emergency mea-sures are enforced and whose incomes are disrupt-ed by the COVID-19 response Women and men re-spectively get XOF12250 (US$20) and XOF10500 (US$17) per month to meet basic needs (food wa-ter power communication) It already has 13 million people registered and has sent money to more than 500000 in the region of the capital Greater Lomeacute alone The money is sent via the Tmoney and Flooz mobile money platforms

7

Recommendations in this category include

sect Consider distribution of mobile phones to wom-en without them and explore innovative financ-ing models Mobile phones enable women to access information online about social protection financial services and other types of support services38 Even if there is a risk that the phones will be used by oth-er family members or lost the benefits for women in need particularly given the scale and urgency of the crisis could be considerable39

sect Explore private sector partnerships to subsidize airtime for the poorest and provide key information services and apps for free 40

sect Seek ways to reduce transaction costs and strengthen interoperability across financial ser-vice providers to overcome barriers associated with the cost of sendingreceiving cash

sect Create broader agent networks and more conve-nient cash-incash-out (CICO) points Most people need to be able to convert digital money into cash CICO networks play a critical role in transitioning from cash-based to fully digital systems and lack of an ac-cessible network can penalize women who are often more time- and mobility-constrained than men41 Ex-panding CICO points for both new and existing bene-ficiaries even if not explicitly for women is shown to significantly expand access to digital financial services as seen in Ecuador and India Innovation and expan-sion of CICO is already proving urgent as COVID-19 presents challenges for cash management in agent net-works42

sect Cash withdrawal needs to occur in ways that re-spect social distancing measures43 Even beneficia-ries with bank or mobile money accounts who receive G2P digitally need to access cash requiring program design that considers ways to avoid exacerbating spread of the coronavirus In India where cash trans-fers are being delivered through bank accounts a stag-gered disbursement schedule tied to the last number of the bank account seeks to avoid having large num-bers of beneficiaries trying to cash out the same day India Post has also equipped postal workers with hand-held devices to go door to door and enable people to withdraw cash based on biometric authentication from their own homes44 In Ecuador where cash transfers are being delivered over the counter through bank and agent networks recipients are assigned withdrawal dates based upon the last number of their ID45

sect Consider regulatory changes In countries where an advanced digital payments ecosystem does not yet

exist and DFS adoption is low For example introduc-ing simplified KYC and basic or no-frills bank accounts lifting or increasing transaction limits facilitating the expansion of agent networks and promoting interop-erability all can help smooth the way for scaling up digital G2P payments Tunisia Peru and Jordan have relaxed regulations to facilitate rapid deployment of G2P through digital channels

sect Incentivize electronic payments acceptance The level of digital money in the country should be as-sessed when selecting a cash benefit delivery system Measures to expand electronic payments should con-sider facilitating merchant onboarding and providing them with incentives to accept digital money

sect Explore alternate digital transfer methods in mar-kets where cellular technology is not widely available or women do not have access to mobile phones An ATM card pre-loaded with cash allows a recipient to withdraw money even if she does not have a financial account A debit card can be used to pay directly for goods at merchants that have a point-of-service (PoS) device In some markets card-less biometrics enable payments or disbursements at cash-out points using a fingerprint to authenticate the recipient While these al-ternative methods can enable access to needed funds when payments are not linked to a mobile or bank ac-count they do not offer a pathway to sustain financial inclusion

2 Direct the money into her account

Providing the cash transfer into an account registered in a womanrsquos names and to which she has direct access pro-vides safer and more secure access more control over use reduces the risks of having funds appropriated by other family members and offers a gateway to additional finan-cial services like savings credit and insurance She should have control over the account which ideally would be a private fully-functioning financial account that can be uti-lized by her for other transactions At the same time it is critical to understand and mitigate risks in environments where this increases risk of burden on or violence against women46 47

Recommendations include

sect Make women the default recipient of cash trans-fer schemes In many countries by default the head of household is the primary recipient of cash trans-fers By way of contrast Perursquos response to COVID-19 delivers stimulus checks to women in the household by default48 India which benefited from pre-existing sex-disaggregated data from its PMJDY program cou-

8 9

pled its existing payment and ID technology to rapidly scale up to send cash transfers to 200 million of the countryrsquos poorest women49

sect Ease KYC requirements Procedures to register for cash transfers into a financial accounts should not be excessively burdensome for poor women A tiered KYC approach with minimal identity verification require-ments for low-risk transactions as we see in India Peru and Nigeria50 can improve accessibility Under tiered KYC if the woman is opening an account to re-ceive G2P payments it may be considered at a lower risk for money laundering and terrorist-financing activi-ties since the sender is the government and hence can qualify for low-tier KYC and possibly even exemptions Identification alternatives that would meet Anti-Money LaunderingCombating Financing of Terrorism (AMLCFT) requirements such as using risk analysis and various types of verification even if women lack the preferred types of official ID also could expand access for women51

sect Leverage official identification systems to facilitate registering for benefits as well as for account opening Pakistanrsquos Ehsaas program was able to quickly register 73 million in their COVID-19 cash transfer response by allowing for rapid enrollment using the national ID and SMS messaging to register for the transfers52 al-though pre-existing gender gaps in that country sug-gest large risks of exclusion53 Where foundational ID systems such as national ID systems are non-existent not reliable or difficult to access for poor women so-cial protection programs may also rely on functional ID systems for effective payment delivery54

sect Seek to enable womenrsquos onboarding Self-help groups (SHGs) can provide information and support the expansion of payment systems in ways that are re-liable and safe for women Womenrsquos groups55 and peer support groups56 can serve as networks for more effi-cient communication57 Producer cooperatives savings groups non-profits indigenous peoplersquos organizations are all examples of groups that can assist in the out-reach to women In the Indian state of Bihar the SHG entity Jeevika has supported targeting and enrolling over two million women into the Public Distribution System and it has provided a critical communication feedback loop between beneficiaries and the local gov-ernment

sect Avert risks of backlash and undue burden In set-tings where making payments to women are deemed infeasible due to adverse social norms directing pay-ments to women during acute periods of the crisis such as during lockdowns may intensify household

tensions and exacerbate the risk of violence58 a key risk to avoid in COVID-19 Direct transfers to women may also increase the burden on women by requiring them to be the sole collector of G2P payments To off-set these risks multiple household members could be authorized to make transactions and efforts should be made to ensure that program information (eligi-bility criteria transfer purpose amount duration and so on) are communicated transparently to the whole community reaching both men and women

3 Design the program for her empowerment

Social protection programs should aim to enhance pros-pects for womenrsquos economic empowerment including through appropriate coverage adequate financing and transfer size suitable consumer protection and measures to support capabilities as well as avoiding onerous appli-cation and onboarding processes that can exclude women Adjustments to existing programs to respond to the crisis have already begun around the world many with the inten-tion of empowering women in vulnerable households

Recommendations include

sect Relax conditions on existing cash transfer programs such as conditions tied to childrenrsquos schooling or health which can reduce the burden on women who are typically responsible for fulfilling these conditions59 This move can reduce the spread of the virus by lim-iting interactions with authorities and providing more economic support to more families It is important to clearly communicate when conditionality is paused and when it will resume to ensure confidence in recipients that they wont lose eligibility to conditional cash trans-fer program

sect Expand and adapt social registries and manage-ment information systems for collecting sex-dis-aggregated data Systems need to reflect economic impacts of COVID-19 given significant increases in the numbers of poor and the depth of poverty and it is critical that relevant sex-disaggregated data is collected It will inform decision making and be used to monitor and measure impacts and coverage on a timely basis (see Appendix 2) Social registries could gather better data to understand womenrsquos specific vulnerabilities and constraints and improve targeting which would help during future crises (ie ldquoadaptive shock responsive social protectionrdquo) This will require concerted outreach efforts to the most marginalized Social registries could also work to de-bias data and move away from the concept of lsquohousehold headrsquo to-wards the more neutral lsquoprimary respondentrsquo60

9

sect Work with local governments NGO networks and associations to identify those in need These groups can draw on information sources that are often better and more up to date than those of the central government Informal sector workers could be reached by working through associations that represent them Support to vulnerable households in Rwanda for in-stance includes local leaders doing the targeting for a food distribution program (door-to-door provision of basic food stuffs every three days) and cash transfers to casual workers61 62

sect Use diverse modes of communication for infor-mation and onboarding The gender gaps in mo-bile phone ownership mean that mobile phone-based communications should be complemented by other platforms including internet television radio financial service providers agent banking networks and trusted local organizations and community members 63 Con-ducting field research at the design stage and incorpo-rating appropriate communication about the decisions around cash transfers can increase acceptance levels and mitigate risks for example research from Bangla-desh found high levels of acceptance by both men and women about moving their benefits from cash delivery to digital via the mobile money account of a family member 64

sect Include well-functioning grievance redressal sys-tems with remote options to allow beneficiaries to communicate when and where issues arise and ensure that consumer protection works for women Bangla-desh is setting up a call center specifically for G2P beneficiaries to report challenges instead of requiring them to just go to the financial service provider

sect Ensure adequate capacity-building in program de-sign to give women the skills and capabilities needed to successfully understand program parameters man-age accounts and access information and recourse mechanisms65

sect Monitor program functioning Agile and proactive monitoring is needed to ensure receipt of payment is a positive experience Some states in India such as Andhra Pradesh are integrating more proactive collec-tion of recipient feedback by mobile phone to ensure that peoplersquos experiences were satisfactory and to monitor local delivery systems66

sect Increase level and duration of assistance to cov-er the COVID-19 economic crisis Many families are likely to require a full income replacement rather than supplements Some governments have temporar-ily topped up current social assistance benefits -- for example Indonesiarsquos Program Keluarga Harapan (PKH) program which targets its poorest citizens and Ken-yarsquos pension orphan and vulnerable childrenrsquos grant67 In Pakistan the government is giving an additional Rs1000 for the next four months as emergency relief to 45 million women who are existing beneficiaries of its Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) which targets women with a monthly cash transfer 68 The burdens on those caring for sick members and children could be recognized through new or supplemental top-up payments Robust communication with beneficiaries is necessary to ensure that all involved understand what amounts they are receiving in what time frames

sect Introduce new types of targeted cash support There is a range of potential innovations opened up by the crisis Brazil has expanded benefits to informal workers69 From Algeria to Argentina countries are be-ginning to implement payments for caregivers

More broadly and very importantly women should have space and a voice at the table It is critical that women are heard in positions of leadership in order to influence and inform the design implementation and adjustments of programs Existing womenrsquos groups are actively responding to the crisis on various fronts and they should be included to contribute their leadership views ideas and innovations on design and delivery methods

10 11

IV Conclusions and ways forward

The COVID-19 crisis calls for rapid and innovative respons-es and creative solutions to address strains on lives and livelihoods particularly for women and girls Experience underlines the importance of multi-level analysis of gen-der-related gaps and incorporating gender as a priority in program responses 75 Now is the time to ensure that women and girls are not left behind that we are building critical infrastructure for future shocks and that responses intentionally seek to meet their needs Regular monitoring also needs to be in place to address gaps and take steps to address exclusion By affirming their commitment to womenrsquos empowerment through cash transfers and other COVID-related interventions policymakers have a unique opportunity to support women and influence social norms in long-lasting ways that encourage womenrsquos interaction with accounts and help support resilience against future economic shocks As far as possible existing knowledge and data need to be rapidly re-examined and key stake-holder groups and voices of poor women included to help inform rapid responses appropriate to the local setting

The existing momentum around digitization of G2P offers major opportunities to deliver support to people in ways that are both safe and secure and that reduce leakage If support is designed and implemented in gender-inten-tional ways it will ensure that women are not left behind If done well digitization can contribute toward further fi-nancial inclusion and womenrsquos empowerment While short-term workarounds will be needed to get financial support to people in need during the crisis it is important to bear in mind the longer term objectives Given the evolving and fluid nature of the COVID-19 crisis proactive monitoring to guard against inadvertent exclusion and to ensure that vul-nerable people are fully supported with available resources will continue to be important for some time

Gender intentionality is imperative as governments and partners around the world put together rapid responses to the crisis What is needed appropriate and feasible will of course differ by setting But there are important principles and lessons on which we can draw which should inform the crafting of policy and program measures in ways that mitigate the short and long-term impacts of the pandemic on the lives and livelihoods of women and girls If the re-sponse is managed well the crisis presents an opportuni-ty to enhance the economic empowerment of women and build overall resilience

BOX 1 Confronting Trade-offs

Challenges will arise in the midst of a pandemic that require policymakers to make difficult decisions We recommend that in choosing among options explicitly consider the implications for gender equality using all the relevant data and experience that is available Examples of trade-offs include

sect In general cash transfers are more efficient than food transfers providing greater improvements in dietary diversity and quality But food transfers can work better to boost per capita caloric intake and may be needed where basic essentials are difficult or expensive to procure70 Women and children are often the first to reduce food consumption in response to shocks71 Safely increasing in-kind transfers such as food or soap may be recommended especially where mobility is restricted and supply chains are disrupted Several governments have recently delivered basic goods including in India Jamaica and Nigeria72

sect Where women do not have access to phones digital transfers may need to go to males in the household with a phone or other forms of transfers to cash-out points may be used as in Pakistan where women are biometrically authenticated at designated cash-out points73 As noted above messaging should underline that the benefits are intended for the whole family

sect Social assistance programs typically seek to narrowly target the poor and are adjusted to need which is believed to be fiscally responsible However amidst crisis and mass unemployment where economic shocks are being faced across many groups in society lump-sum payments that are as generous as possible are a better route74

11

V Appendix 1 Examples of social protection responses to COVID-19 targeting women

sect Brazilrsquos cash transfer plan provides funds for sin-gle-mother households that are slightly more than the amount given to two-parent households This program has been approved by Congress but still has to go through the Senate

bull However there seem to be some concerns about how well this bill will cover informal workers and if the amount of funds will be enough

sect Indiarsquos cash transfer plan specifically targets women from the poorest segments and directs funds directly into PMJDY accounts which are specific types of ac-counts that aim to make financial inclusion available for all unbanked adults Because PMJDY databases are al-ready sex-disaggregated the Government of India was able to effect a plan to target and distribute 3 months of cash transfers to approximately 200 million low in-come women within one week

bull However a study from Yale found that 176 million poor women (53 percent) lack PMJDY accounts and will may be missed in the cash transfers Further 70 million women in India (21 percent) lack ration cards which grant access to the cen-tral food ration system There is need to create dynamic systems which can include left-out pop-ulations such that more women can be covered through PMJDY and other assistance measures

sect Pakistanrsquos cash transfer program has a separate cate-gory for women Women who were already receiving cash transfers before the pandemic (ldquoEhsaas beneficia-riesrdquo) will get an increased amount of funds under the new COVID-19 plan According to the World Economic Forum (WEF) the majority of Ehsaas transfers to date including pre-COVID-19 have been delivered to wom-en in the family An SMS campaign will be launched to inform citizens of the program

bull However given pre-existing gender gaps there are concerns about exclusion

sect Burkina Fasorsquos president announced plans for a sol-

idarity fund for women vendors as part of a broader social protection plan

bull There is no information out yet about how this plan is being implemented success reach etc

sect Algeria is offering paid leave for all pregnant women and all women who take care of children

sect Argentina is providing paid leave for pregnant women and all workers who have dependent children

sect Bolivia is providing paid leave for pregnant women

sect Egypt is developing a plan that would increase pay-ments to women leaders in rural areas

sect Ethiopiarsquos Harari State is granting paid leave for preg-nant women

sect Mauritania is allocating funds specifically for 30000 homes dependent on women elderly and disabled heads of households

sect South Sudanrsquos Safety Net Project will provide direct grants to vulnerable populations who canrsquot work in-cluding pregnant and breastfeeding women

sect Turkeyrsquos cash transfer plan specifically targets women Increased amounts will be given to new mothers and recent widows

sect Perursquos cash transfers are made to the oldest adult wom-an under 60 (age 18-60) in the household whenever possible If no female in the household meets these criteria a male can receive the money In Peru the de-cision to explicitly enroll women for household benefits was explained by affirming womenrsquos traditional role as ensuring the families well-being76

sect Togo launched Novissi an unconditional cash trans-fer scheme designed to support all Togolese informal workers living in areas where health emergency mea-sures are enforced and whose incomes are disrupt-ed by the COVID-19 response Women and men re-spectively get XOF12250 (US$20) and XOF10500 (US$17) per month to meet basic needs (food wa-ter power communication) It already has 13 million people registered and has sent money to more than 500000 in the region of the capital Greater Lomeacute alone The money is sent via the Tmoney and Flooz mobile money platforms

8 9

pled its existing payment and ID technology to rapidly scale up to send cash transfers to 200 million of the countryrsquos poorest women49

sect Ease KYC requirements Procedures to register for cash transfers into a financial accounts should not be excessively burdensome for poor women A tiered KYC approach with minimal identity verification require-ments for low-risk transactions as we see in India Peru and Nigeria50 can improve accessibility Under tiered KYC if the woman is opening an account to re-ceive G2P payments it may be considered at a lower risk for money laundering and terrorist-financing activi-ties since the sender is the government and hence can qualify for low-tier KYC and possibly even exemptions Identification alternatives that would meet Anti-Money LaunderingCombating Financing of Terrorism (AMLCFT) requirements such as using risk analysis and various types of verification even if women lack the preferred types of official ID also could expand access for women51

sect Leverage official identification systems to facilitate registering for benefits as well as for account opening Pakistanrsquos Ehsaas program was able to quickly register 73 million in their COVID-19 cash transfer response by allowing for rapid enrollment using the national ID and SMS messaging to register for the transfers52 al-though pre-existing gender gaps in that country sug-gest large risks of exclusion53 Where foundational ID systems such as national ID systems are non-existent not reliable or difficult to access for poor women so-cial protection programs may also rely on functional ID systems for effective payment delivery54

sect Seek to enable womenrsquos onboarding Self-help groups (SHGs) can provide information and support the expansion of payment systems in ways that are re-liable and safe for women Womenrsquos groups55 and peer support groups56 can serve as networks for more effi-cient communication57 Producer cooperatives savings groups non-profits indigenous peoplersquos organizations are all examples of groups that can assist in the out-reach to women In the Indian state of Bihar the SHG entity Jeevika has supported targeting and enrolling over two million women into the Public Distribution System and it has provided a critical communication feedback loop between beneficiaries and the local gov-ernment

sect Avert risks of backlash and undue burden In set-tings where making payments to women are deemed infeasible due to adverse social norms directing pay-ments to women during acute periods of the crisis such as during lockdowns may intensify household

tensions and exacerbate the risk of violence58 a key risk to avoid in COVID-19 Direct transfers to women may also increase the burden on women by requiring them to be the sole collector of G2P payments To off-set these risks multiple household members could be authorized to make transactions and efforts should be made to ensure that program information (eligi-bility criteria transfer purpose amount duration and so on) are communicated transparently to the whole community reaching both men and women

3 Design the program for her empowerment

Social protection programs should aim to enhance pros-pects for womenrsquos economic empowerment including through appropriate coverage adequate financing and transfer size suitable consumer protection and measures to support capabilities as well as avoiding onerous appli-cation and onboarding processes that can exclude women Adjustments to existing programs to respond to the crisis have already begun around the world many with the inten-tion of empowering women in vulnerable households

Recommendations include

sect Relax conditions on existing cash transfer programs such as conditions tied to childrenrsquos schooling or health which can reduce the burden on women who are typically responsible for fulfilling these conditions59 This move can reduce the spread of the virus by lim-iting interactions with authorities and providing more economic support to more families It is important to clearly communicate when conditionality is paused and when it will resume to ensure confidence in recipients that they wont lose eligibility to conditional cash trans-fer program

sect Expand and adapt social registries and manage-ment information systems for collecting sex-dis-aggregated data Systems need to reflect economic impacts of COVID-19 given significant increases in the numbers of poor and the depth of poverty and it is critical that relevant sex-disaggregated data is collected It will inform decision making and be used to monitor and measure impacts and coverage on a timely basis (see Appendix 2) Social registries could gather better data to understand womenrsquos specific vulnerabilities and constraints and improve targeting which would help during future crises (ie ldquoadaptive shock responsive social protectionrdquo) This will require concerted outreach efforts to the most marginalized Social registries could also work to de-bias data and move away from the concept of lsquohousehold headrsquo to-wards the more neutral lsquoprimary respondentrsquo60

9

sect Work with local governments NGO networks and associations to identify those in need These groups can draw on information sources that are often better and more up to date than those of the central government Informal sector workers could be reached by working through associations that represent them Support to vulnerable households in Rwanda for in-stance includes local leaders doing the targeting for a food distribution program (door-to-door provision of basic food stuffs every three days) and cash transfers to casual workers61 62

sect Use diverse modes of communication for infor-mation and onboarding The gender gaps in mo-bile phone ownership mean that mobile phone-based communications should be complemented by other platforms including internet television radio financial service providers agent banking networks and trusted local organizations and community members 63 Con-ducting field research at the design stage and incorpo-rating appropriate communication about the decisions around cash transfers can increase acceptance levels and mitigate risks for example research from Bangla-desh found high levels of acceptance by both men and women about moving their benefits from cash delivery to digital via the mobile money account of a family member 64

sect Include well-functioning grievance redressal sys-tems with remote options to allow beneficiaries to communicate when and where issues arise and ensure that consumer protection works for women Bangla-desh is setting up a call center specifically for G2P beneficiaries to report challenges instead of requiring them to just go to the financial service provider

sect Ensure adequate capacity-building in program de-sign to give women the skills and capabilities needed to successfully understand program parameters man-age accounts and access information and recourse mechanisms65

sect Monitor program functioning Agile and proactive monitoring is needed to ensure receipt of payment is a positive experience Some states in India such as Andhra Pradesh are integrating more proactive collec-tion of recipient feedback by mobile phone to ensure that peoplersquos experiences were satisfactory and to monitor local delivery systems66

sect Increase level and duration of assistance to cov-er the COVID-19 economic crisis Many families are likely to require a full income replacement rather than supplements Some governments have temporar-ily topped up current social assistance benefits -- for example Indonesiarsquos Program Keluarga Harapan (PKH) program which targets its poorest citizens and Ken-yarsquos pension orphan and vulnerable childrenrsquos grant67 In Pakistan the government is giving an additional Rs1000 for the next four months as emergency relief to 45 million women who are existing beneficiaries of its Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) which targets women with a monthly cash transfer 68 The burdens on those caring for sick members and children could be recognized through new or supplemental top-up payments Robust communication with beneficiaries is necessary to ensure that all involved understand what amounts they are receiving in what time frames

sect Introduce new types of targeted cash support There is a range of potential innovations opened up by the crisis Brazil has expanded benefits to informal workers69 From Algeria to Argentina countries are be-ginning to implement payments for caregivers

More broadly and very importantly women should have space and a voice at the table It is critical that women are heard in positions of leadership in order to influence and inform the design implementation and adjustments of programs Existing womenrsquos groups are actively responding to the crisis on various fronts and they should be included to contribute their leadership views ideas and innovations on design and delivery methods

10 11

IV Conclusions and ways forward

The COVID-19 crisis calls for rapid and innovative respons-es and creative solutions to address strains on lives and livelihoods particularly for women and girls Experience underlines the importance of multi-level analysis of gen-der-related gaps and incorporating gender as a priority in program responses 75 Now is the time to ensure that women and girls are not left behind that we are building critical infrastructure for future shocks and that responses intentionally seek to meet their needs Regular monitoring also needs to be in place to address gaps and take steps to address exclusion By affirming their commitment to womenrsquos empowerment through cash transfers and other COVID-related interventions policymakers have a unique opportunity to support women and influence social norms in long-lasting ways that encourage womenrsquos interaction with accounts and help support resilience against future economic shocks As far as possible existing knowledge and data need to be rapidly re-examined and key stake-holder groups and voices of poor women included to help inform rapid responses appropriate to the local setting

The existing momentum around digitization of G2P offers major opportunities to deliver support to people in ways that are both safe and secure and that reduce leakage If support is designed and implemented in gender-inten-tional ways it will ensure that women are not left behind If done well digitization can contribute toward further fi-nancial inclusion and womenrsquos empowerment While short-term workarounds will be needed to get financial support to people in need during the crisis it is important to bear in mind the longer term objectives Given the evolving and fluid nature of the COVID-19 crisis proactive monitoring to guard against inadvertent exclusion and to ensure that vul-nerable people are fully supported with available resources will continue to be important for some time

Gender intentionality is imperative as governments and partners around the world put together rapid responses to the crisis What is needed appropriate and feasible will of course differ by setting But there are important principles and lessons on which we can draw which should inform the crafting of policy and program measures in ways that mitigate the short and long-term impacts of the pandemic on the lives and livelihoods of women and girls If the re-sponse is managed well the crisis presents an opportuni-ty to enhance the economic empowerment of women and build overall resilience

BOX 1 Confronting Trade-offs

Challenges will arise in the midst of a pandemic that require policymakers to make difficult decisions We recommend that in choosing among options explicitly consider the implications for gender equality using all the relevant data and experience that is available Examples of trade-offs include

sect In general cash transfers are more efficient than food transfers providing greater improvements in dietary diversity and quality But food transfers can work better to boost per capita caloric intake and may be needed where basic essentials are difficult or expensive to procure70 Women and children are often the first to reduce food consumption in response to shocks71 Safely increasing in-kind transfers such as food or soap may be recommended especially where mobility is restricted and supply chains are disrupted Several governments have recently delivered basic goods including in India Jamaica and Nigeria72

sect Where women do not have access to phones digital transfers may need to go to males in the household with a phone or other forms of transfers to cash-out points may be used as in Pakistan where women are biometrically authenticated at designated cash-out points73 As noted above messaging should underline that the benefits are intended for the whole family

sect Social assistance programs typically seek to narrowly target the poor and are adjusted to need which is believed to be fiscally responsible However amidst crisis and mass unemployment where economic shocks are being faced across many groups in society lump-sum payments that are as generous as possible are a better route74

11

V Appendix 1 Examples of social protection responses to COVID-19 targeting women

sect Brazilrsquos cash transfer plan provides funds for sin-gle-mother households that are slightly more than the amount given to two-parent households This program has been approved by Congress but still has to go through the Senate

bull However there seem to be some concerns about how well this bill will cover informal workers and if the amount of funds will be enough

sect Indiarsquos cash transfer plan specifically targets women from the poorest segments and directs funds directly into PMJDY accounts which are specific types of ac-counts that aim to make financial inclusion available for all unbanked adults Because PMJDY databases are al-ready sex-disaggregated the Government of India was able to effect a plan to target and distribute 3 months of cash transfers to approximately 200 million low in-come women within one week

bull However a study from Yale found that 176 million poor women (53 percent) lack PMJDY accounts and will may be missed in the cash transfers Further 70 million women in India (21 percent) lack ration cards which grant access to the cen-tral food ration system There is need to create dynamic systems which can include left-out pop-ulations such that more women can be covered through PMJDY and other assistance measures

sect Pakistanrsquos cash transfer program has a separate cate-gory for women Women who were already receiving cash transfers before the pandemic (ldquoEhsaas beneficia-riesrdquo) will get an increased amount of funds under the new COVID-19 plan According to the World Economic Forum (WEF) the majority of Ehsaas transfers to date including pre-COVID-19 have been delivered to wom-en in the family An SMS campaign will be launched to inform citizens of the program

bull However given pre-existing gender gaps there are concerns about exclusion

sect Burkina Fasorsquos president announced plans for a sol-

idarity fund for women vendors as part of a broader social protection plan

bull There is no information out yet about how this plan is being implemented success reach etc

sect Algeria is offering paid leave for all pregnant women and all women who take care of children

sect Argentina is providing paid leave for pregnant women and all workers who have dependent children

sect Bolivia is providing paid leave for pregnant women

sect Egypt is developing a plan that would increase pay-ments to women leaders in rural areas

sect Ethiopiarsquos Harari State is granting paid leave for preg-nant women

sect Mauritania is allocating funds specifically for 30000 homes dependent on women elderly and disabled heads of households

sect South Sudanrsquos Safety Net Project will provide direct grants to vulnerable populations who canrsquot work in-cluding pregnant and breastfeeding women

sect Turkeyrsquos cash transfer plan specifically targets women Increased amounts will be given to new mothers and recent widows

sect Perursquos cash transfers are made to the oldest adult wom-an under 60 (age 18-60) in the household whenever possible If no female in the household meets these criteria a male can receive the money In Peru the de-cision to explicitly enroll women for household benefits was explained by affirming womenrsquos traditional role as ensuring the families well-being76

sect Togo launched Novissi an unconditional cash trans-fer scheme designed to support all Togolese informal workers living in areas where health emergency mea-sures are enforced and whose incomes are disrupt-ed by the COVID-19 response Women and men re-spectively get XOF12250 (US$20) and XOF10500 (US$17) per month to meet basic needs (food wa-ter power communication) It already has 13 million people registered and has sent money to more than 500000 in the region of the capital Greater Lomeacute alone The money is sent via the Tmoney and Flooz mobile money platforms

9

sect Work with local governments NGO networks and associations to identify those in need These groups can draw on information sources that are often better and more up to date than those of the central government Informal sector workers could be reached by working through associations that represent them Support to vulnerable households in Rwanda for in-stance includes local leaders doing the targeting for a food distribution program (door-to-door provision of basic food stuffs every three days) and cash transfers to casual workers61 62

sect Use diverse modes of communication for infor-mation and onboarding The gender gaps in mo-bile phone ownership mean that mobile phone-based communications should be complemented by other platforms including internet television radio financial service providers agent banking networks and trusted local organizations and community members 63 Con-ducting field research at the design stage and incorpo-rating appropriate communication about the decisions around cash transfers can increase acceptance levels and mitigate risks for example research from Bangla-desh found high levels of acceptance by both men and women about moving their benefits from cash delivery to digital via the mobile money account of a family member 64

sect Include well-functioning grievance redressal sys-tems with remote options to allow beneficiaries to communicate when and where issues arise and ensure that consumer protection works for women Bangla-desh is setting up a call center specifically for G2P beneficiaries to report challenges instead of requiring them to just go to the financial service provider

sect Ensure adequate capacity-building in program de-sign to give women the skills and capabilities needed to successfully understand program parameters man-age accounts and access information and recourse mechanisms65

sect Monitor program functioning Agile and proactive monitoring is needed to ensure receipt of payment is a positive experience Some states in India such as Andhra Pradesh are integrating more proactive collec-tion of recipient feedback by mobile phone to ensure that peoplersquos experiences were satisfactory and to monitor local delivery systems66

sect Increase level and duration of assistance to cov-er the COVID-19 economic crisis Many families are likely to require a full income replacement rather than supplements Some governments have temporar-ily topped up current social assistance benefits -- for example Indonesiarsquos Program Keluarga Harapan (PKH) program which targets its poorest citizens and Ken-yarsquos pension orphan and vulnerable childrenrsquos grant67 In Pakistan the government is giving an additional Rs1000 for the next four months as emergency relief to 45 million women who are existing beneficiaries of its Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) which targets women with a monthly cash transfer 68 The burdens on those caring for sick members and children could be recognized through new or supplemental top-up payments Robust communication with beneficiaries is necessary to ensure that all involved understand what amounts they are receiving in what time frames

sect Introduce new types of targeted cash support There is a range of potential innovations opened up by the crisis Brazil has expanded benefits to informal workers69 From Algeria to Argentina countries are be-ginning to implement payments for caregivers

More broadly and very importantly women should have space and a voice at the table It is critical that women are heard in positions of leadership in order to influence and inform the design implementation and adjustments of programs Existing womenrsquos groups are actively responding to the crisis on various fronts and they should be included to contribute their leadership views ideas and innovations on design and delivery methods

10 11

IV Conclusions and ways forward

The COVID-19 crisis calls for rapid and innovative respons-es and creative solutions to address strains on lives and livelihoods particularly for women and girls Experience underlines the importance of multi-level analysis of gen-der-related gaps and incorporating gender as a priority in program responses 75 Now is the time to ensure that women and girls are not left behind that we are building critical infrastructure for future shocks and that responses intentionally seek to meet their needs Regular monitoring also needs to be in place to address gaps and take steps to address exclusion By affirming their commitment to womenrsquos empowerment through cash transfers and other COVID-related interventions policymakers have a unique opportunity to support women and influence social norms in long-lasting ways that encourage womenrsquos interaction with accounts and help support resilience against future economic shocks As far as possible existing knowledge and data need to be rapidly re-examined and key stake-holder groups and voices of poor women included to help inform rapid responses appropriate to the local setting

The existing momentum around digitization of G2P offers major opportunities to deliver support to people in ways that are both safe and secure and that reduce leakage If support is designed and implemented in gender-inten-tional ways it will ensure that women are not left behind If done well digitization can contribute toward further fi-nancial inclusion and womenrsquos empowerment While short-term workarounds will be needed to get financial support to people in need during the crisis it is important to bear in mind the longer term objectives Given the evolving and fluid nature of the COVID-19 crisis proactive monitoring to guard against inadvertent exclusion and to ensure that vul-nerable people are fully supported with available resources will continue to be important for some time

Gender intentionality is imperative as governments and partners around the world put together rapid responses to the crisis What is needed appropriate and feasible will of course differ by setting But there are important principles and lessons on which we can draw which should inform the crafting of policy and program measures in ways that mitigate the short and long-term impacts of the pandemic on the lives and livelihoods of women and girls If the re-sponse is managed well the crisis presents an opportuni-ty to enhance the economic empowerment of women and build overall resilience

BOX 1 Confronting Trade-offs

Challenges will arise in the midst of a pandemic that require policymakers to make difficult decisions We recommend that in choosing among options explicitly consider the implications for gender equality using all the relevant data and experience that is available Examples of trade-offs include

sect In general cash transfers are more efficient than food transfers providing greater improvements in dietary diversity and quality But food transfers can work better to boost per capita caloric intake and may be needed where basic essentials are difficult or expensive to procure70 Women and children are often the first to reduce food consumption in response to shocks71 Safely increasing in-kind transfers such as food or soap may be recommended especially where mobility is restricted and supply chains are disrupted Several governments have recently delivered basic goods including in India Jamaica and Nigeria72

sect Where women do not have access to phones digital transfers may need to go to males in the household with a phone or other forms of transfers to cash-out points may be used as in Pakistan where women are biometrically authenticated at designated cash-out points73 As noted above messaging should underline that the benefits are intended for the whole family

sect Social assistance programs typically seek to narrowly target the poor and are adjusted to need which is believed to be fiscally responsible However amidst crisis and mass unemployment where economic shocks are being faced across many groups in society lump-sum payments that are as generous as possible are a better route74

11

V Appendix 1 Examples of social protection responses to COVID-19 targeting women

sect Brazilrsquos cash transfer plan provides funds for sin-gle-mother households that are slightly more than the amount given to two-parent households This program has been approved by Congress but still has to go through the Senate

bull However there seem to be some concerns about how well this bill will cover informal workers and if the amount of funds will be enough

sect Indiarsquos cash transfer plan specifically targets women from the poorest segments and directs funds directly into PMJDY accounts which are specific types of ac-counts that aim to make financial inclusion available for all unbanked adults Because PMJDY databases are al-ready sex-disaggregated the Government of India was able to effect a plan to target and distribute 3 months of cash transfers to approximately 200 million low in-come women within one week

bull However a study from Yale found that 176 million poor women (53 percent) lack PMJDY accounts and will may be missed in the cash transfers Further 70 million women in India (21 percent) lack ration cards which grant access to the cen-tral food ration system There is need to create dynamic systems which can include left-out pop-ulations such that more women can be covered through PMJDY and other assistance measures

sect Pakistanrsquos cash transfer program has a separate cate-gory for women Women who were already receiving cash transfers before the pandemic (ldquoEhsaas beneficia-riesrdquo) will get an increased amount of funds under the new COVID-19 plan According to the World Economic Forum (WEF) the majority of Ehsaas transfers to date including pre-COVID-19 have been delivered to wom-en in the family An SMS campaign will be launched to inform citizens of the program

bull However given pre-existing gender gaps there are concerns about exclusion

sect Burkina Fasorsquos president announced plans for a sol-

idarity fund for women vendors as part of a broader social protection plan

bull There is no information out yet about how this plan is being implemented success reach etc

sect Algeria is offering paid leave for all pregnant women and all women who take care of children

sect Argentina is providing paid leave for pregnant women and all workers who have dependent children

sect Bolivia is providing paid leave for pregnant women

sect Egypt is developing a plan that would increase pay-ments to women leaders in rural areas

sect Ethiopiarsquos Harari State is granting paid leave for preg-nant women

sect Mauritania is allocating funds specifically for 30000 homes dependent on women elderly and disabled heads of households

sect South Sudanrsquos Safety Net Project will provide direct grants to vulnerable populations who canrsquot work in-cluding pregnant and breastfeeding women

sect Turkeyrsquos cash transfer plan specifically targets women Increased amounts will be given to new mothers and recent widows

sect Perursquos cash transfers are made to the oldest adult wom-an under 60 (age 18-60) in the household whenever possible If no female in the household meets these criteria a male can receive the money In Peru the de-cision to explicitly enroll women for household benefits was explained by affirming womenrsquos traditional role as ensuring the families well-being76

sect Togo launched Novissi an unconditional cash trans-fer scheme designed to support all Togolese informal workers living in areas where health emergency mea-sures are enforced and whose incomes are disrupt-ed by the COVID-19 response Women and men re-spectively get XOF12250 (US$20) and XOF10500 (US$17) per month to meet basic needs (food wa-ter power communication) It already has 13 million people registered and has sent money to more than 500000 in the region of the capital Greater Lomeacute alone The money is sent via the Tmoney and Flooz mobile money platforms

10 11

IV Conclusions and ways forward

The COVID-19 crisis calls for rapid and innovative respons-es and creative solutions to address strains on lives and livelihoods particularly for women and girls Experience underlines the importance of multi-level analysis of gen-der-related gaps and incorporating gender as a priority in program responses 75 Now is the time to ensure that women and girls are not left behind that we are building critical infrastructure for future shocks and that responses intentionally seek to meet their needs Regular monitoring also needs to be in place to address gaps and take steps to address exclusion By affirming their commitment to womenrsquos empowerment through cash transfers and other COVID-related interventions policymakers have a unique opportunity to support women and influence social norms in long-lasting ways that encourage womenrsquos interaction with accounts and help support resilience against future economic shocks As far as possible existing knowledge and data need to be rapidly re-examined and key stake-holder groups and voices of poor women included to help inform rapid responses appropriate to the local setting

The existing momentum around digitization of G2P offers major opportunities to deliver support to people in ways that are both safe and secure and that reduce leakage If support is designed and implemented in gender-inten-tional ways it will ensure that women are not left behind If done well digitization can contribute toward further fi-nancial inclusion and womenrsquos empowerment While short-term workarounds will be needed to get financial support to people in need during the crisis it is important to bear in mind the longer term objectives Given the evolving and fluid nature of the COVID-19 crisis proactive monitoring to guard against inadvertent exclusion and to ensure that vul-nerable people are fully supported with available resources will continue to be important for some time

Gender intentionality is imperative as governments and partners around the world put together rapid responses to the crisis What is needed appropriate and feasible will of course differ by setting But there are important principles and lessons on which we can draw which should inform the crafting of policy and program measures in ways that mitigate the short and long-term impacts of the pandemic on the lives and livelihoods of women and girls If the re-sponse is managed well the crisis presents an opportuni-ty to enhance the economic empowerment of women and build overall resilience

BOX 1 Confronting Trade-offs

Challenges will arise in the midst of a pandemic that require policymakers to make difficult decisions We recommend that in choosing among options explicitly consider the implications for gender equality using all the relevant data and experience that is available Examples of trade-offs include

sect In general cash transfers are more efficient than food transfers providing greater improvements in dietary diversity and quality But food transfers can work better to boost per capita caloric intake and may be needed where basic essentials are difficult or expensive to procure70 Women and children are often the first to reduce food consumption in response to shocks71 Safely increasing in-kind transfers such as food or soap may be recommended especially where mobility is restricted and supply chains are disrupted Several governments have recently delivered basic goods including in India Jamaica and Nigeria72

sect Where women do not have access to phones digital transfers may need to go to males in the household with a phone or other forms of transfers to cash-out points may be used as in Pakistan where women are biometrically authenticated at designated cash-out points73 As noted above messaging should underline that the benefits are intended for the whole family

sect Social assistance programs typically seek to narrowly target the poor and are adjusted to need which is believed to be fiscally responsible However amidst crisis and mass unemployment where economic shocks are being faced across many groups in society lump-sum payments that are as generous as possible are a better route74

11

V Appendix 1 Examples of social protection responses to COVID-19 targeting women

sect Brazilrsquos cash transfer plan provides funds for sin-gle-mother households that are slightly more than the amount given to two-parent households This program has been approved by Congress but still has to go through the Senate

bull However there seem to be some concerns about how well this bill will cover informal workers and if the amount of funds will be enough

sect Indiarsquos cash transfer plan specifically targets women from the poorest segments and directs funds directly into PMJDY accounts which are specific types of ac-counts that aim to make financial inclusion available for all unbanked adults Because PMJDY databases are al-ready sex-disaggregated the Government of India was able to effect a plan to target and distribute 3 months of cash transfers to approximately 200 million low in-come women within one week

bull However a study from Yale found that 176 million poor women (53 percent) lack PMJDY accounts and will may be missed in the cash transfers Further 70 million women in India (21 percent) lack ration cards which grant access to the cen-tral food ration system There is need to create dynamic systems which can include left-out pop-ulations such that more women can be covered through PMJDY and other assistance measures

sect Pakistanrsquos cash transfer program has a separate cate-gory for women Women who were already receiving cash transfers before the pandemic (ldquoEhsaas beneficia-riesrdquo) will get an increased amount of funds under the new COVID-19 plan According to the World Economic Forum (WEF) the majority of Ehsaas transfers to date including pre-COVID-19 have been delivered to wom-en in the family An SMS campaign will be launched to inform citizens of the program

bull However given pre-existing gender gaps there are concerns about exclusion

sect Burkina Fasorsquos president announced plans for a sol-

idarity fund for women vendors as part of a broader social protection plan

bull There is no information out yet about how this plan is being implemented success reach etc

sect Algeria is offering paid leave for all pregnant women and all women who take care of children

sect Argentina is providing paid leave for pregnant women and all workers who have dependent children

sect Bolivia is providing paid leave for pregnant women

sect Egypt is developing a plan that would increase pay-ments to women leaders in rural areas

sect Ethiopiarsquos Harari State is granting paid leave for preg-nant women

sect Mauritania is allocating funds specifically for 30000 homes dependent on women elderly and disabled heads of households

sect South Sudanrsquos Safety Net Project will provide direct grants to vulnerable populations who canrsquot work in-cluding pregnant and breastfeeding women

sect Turkeyrsquos cash transfer plan specifically targets women Increased amounts will be given to new mothers and recent widows

sect Perursquos cash transfers are made to the oldest adult wom-an under 60 (age 18-60) in the household whenever possible If no female in the household meets these criteria a male can receive the money In Peru the de-cision to explicitly enroll women for household benefits was explained by affirming womenrsquos traditional role as ensuring the families well-being76

sect Togo launched Novissi an unconditional cash trans-fer scheme designed to support all Togolese informal workers living in areas where health emergency mea-sures are enforced and whose incomes are disrupt-ed by the COVID-19 response Women and men re-spectively get XOF12250 (US$20) and XOF10500 (US$17) per month to meet basic needs (food wa-ter power communication) It already has 13 million people registered and has sent money to more than 500000 in the region of the capital Greater Lomeacute alone The money is sent via the Tmoney and Flooz mobile money platforms

11

V Appendix 1 Examples of social protection responses to COVID-19 targeting women

sect Brazilrsquos cash transfer plan provides funds for sin-gle-mother households that are slightly more than the amount given to two-parent households This program has been approved by Congress but still has to go through the Senate

bull However there seem to be some concerns about how well this bill will cover informal workers and if the amount of funds will be enough

sect Indiarsquos cash transfer plan specifically targets women from the poorest segments and directs funds directly into PMJDY accounts which are specific types of ac-counts that aim to make financial inclusion available for all unbanked adults Because PMJDY databases are al-ready sex-disaggregated the Government of India was able to effect a plan to target and distribute 3 months of cash transfers to approximately 200 million low in-come women within one week

bull However a study from Yale found that 176 million poor women (53 percent) lack PMJDY accounts and will may be missed in the cash transfers Further 70 million women in India (21 percent) lack ration cards which grant access to the cen-tral food ration system There is need to create dynamic systems which can include left-out pop-ulations such that more women can be covered through PMJDY and other assistance measures

sect Pakistanrsquos cash transfer program has a separate cate-gory for women Women who were already receiving cash transfers before the pandemic (ldquoEhsaas beneficia-riesrdquo) will get an increased amount of funds under the new COVID-19 plan According to the World Economic Forum (WEF) the majority of Ehsaas transfers to date including pre-COVID-19 have been delivered to wom-en in the family An SMS campaign will be launched to inform citizens of the program

bull However given pre-existing gender gaps there are concerns about exclusion

sect Burkina Fasorsquos president announced plans for a sol-

idarity fund for women vendors as part of a broader social protection plan

bull There is no information out yet about how this plan is being implemented success reach etc

sect Algeria is offering paid leave for all pregnant women and all women who take care of children

sect Argentina is providing paid leave for pregnant women and all workers who have dependent children

sect Bolivia is providing paid leave for pregnant women

sect Egypt is developing a plan that would increase pay-ments to women leaders in rural areas

sect Ethiopiarsquos Harari State is granting paid leave for preg-nant women

sect Mauritania is allocating funds specifically for 30000 homes dependent on women elderly and disabled heads of households

sect South Sudanrsquos Safety Net Project will provide direct grants to vulnerable populations who canrsquot work in-cluding pregnant and breastfeeding women

sect Turkeyrsquos cash transfer plan specifically targets women Increased amounts will be given to new mothers and recent widows

sect Perursquos cash transfers are made to the oldest adult wom-an under 60 (age 18-60) in the household whenever possible If no female in the household meets these criteria a male can receive the money In Peru the de-cision to explicitly enroll women for household benefits was explained by affirming womenrsquos traditional role as ensuring the families well-being76

sect Togo launched Novissi an unconditional cash trans-fer scheme designed to support all Togolese informal workers living in areas where health emergency mea-sures are enforced and whose incomes are disrupt-ed by the COVID-19 response Women and men re-spectively get XOF12250 (US$20) and XOF10500 (US$17) per month to meet basic needs (food wa-ter power communication) It already has 13 million people registered and has sent money to more than 500000 in the region of the capital Greater Lomeacute alone The money is sent via the Tmoney and Flooz mobile money platforms

12 13

VI Appendix 2 Gender data and metrics suggested approaches on indicators for building agile and gender-responsive monitoring and evaluation amidst COVID-19

It is critically important to track the impacts associated with social protection interventions The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has established a multi-level evaluation strate-gy with Mathematica to generate evidence and actionable learning that connects the D3 interventions with progress on outcomes for womenrsquos economic empowerment and to track how womenrsquos participation in G2P programs gener-ates greater access to ownership of and usage of financial services among women and in turn boosts their economic activity opportunity assets and autonomy for women as well as improves their familiesrsquo well-being To date assess-ments have been conducted in India Pakistan and Tanza-nia77

In the extraordinary context of the COVID-19 crisis where creative social protection solutions are being rapidly imple-mented complementary approaches are needed to build agile and gender-responsive monitoring This is needed to generate information to inform mid-term adjustments as appropriate

Here we suggest a streamlined approach to gender data and metrics limited to key elements that are most relevant and appropriate to the emergency - with an eye to the medium and longer term The focus here is on ongoing monitoring using readily accessible and ideally routine data from various sources rather than fully developed impact evaluations

The best information on program effectiveness comes from impact evaluations in the form of randomized control trials or large-scale surveys But these are expensive time-con-suming and rarely generate information quickly Administra-tive data is useful and important and can become available on a timely or even real-time basis but may not be fully reliable

Complementary methods ndash like Intermittent Beneficiary Monitoring (IBM) which collects from small samples via phone interviews and non-conspicuous means of data col-lection - can allow project teams to identify implementation issues early and take corrective action78 IBM was used to uncover gender bias in the distribution of e- vouchers in World Bank projects in Mali and Niger for example The de-sign phase for the data collection instruments training and sampling for IBM typically takes 4-6 staff weeks

Further efforts will be needed to understand impacts of the COVID-related transfers of womenrsquos economic empower-ment and agency However given the economic downturn short-term impacts on womenrsquos economic activity are likely to be minimal at best

The table sets out potential indicators what is most relevant will vary by setting as will the availability of standardized data The frequency should be at least quarterly ndash ideally monthly Sources include representative household surveys as well as key informant interviews with various stakehold-ers and focus group discussions with beneficiary groups as well as methods like IBM Secondary data sources would include administrative and program data Additional data on program management could be valuable for example data about the extent and quality of womenrsquos engagement in governance mechanisms at the central and community levels (eg in management and decision making) as well as the number of participants in meetings disaggregated by sex79 A 2018 JPAL guide provides a useful overview of measures of womenrsquos empowerment and guidance on data collection80

The suggested data should allow for gender-informed analysis of both implementation and outcomes analysis of social protection responses Even without a valid counter-factual the indicators would allow changes over time to be assessed and portray a useful descriptive picture of the re-cipients Looking across countries it should be possible to take stock and gather implications for global lessons about the gender responsiveness of social protection in the face of COVID-19

13

Domain Description Source

Direct

Womenrsquos inclusion Share of total recipients that are women Administrative

Womenrsquos exclusion Share of eligible women not benefiting from the program Survey

DigitizeShare of female recipients receiving benefits in an account (mobile or bank)

Administrative

Recipient owns or has access to a mobile phone or has SIM card registered in her name

Administrative

Regular receipt of G2P payments

Recipient received G2P payment into her account (mobile or bank) in the past 3090180 days

Administrative

Ownership of mobile moneybank account

Recipient owns a mobile moneybank account Administrative

Womenrsquos access to financial services

Number of access points per capita in a municipality as proxy measure

Administrative

Design

Womenrsquos capabilities Recipient is able to operate a mobile phoneATMPoint of Service terminal to make financial transactions

Survey

Number of transactions by recipient using her mobile moneybank account in the past 3090180 days

Survey

Recipient withdraws payment at agentATM herself without sharing her PIN

Survey

Knowledge of G2P programRecipient understands G2P program rules and eligibility and grievance reporting process

Survey

Paid employmentRecipient had any paid employment (including self-employed) in past month and earnings therefrom

Survey

Control over income and spending

Recipient has sole or joint control over household income and spending

Survey

Recipient has control over G2P program payments Survey

Mobility Recipient reports that she can freely visit the market health center friends house religious places -- alone

Survey

Source Adapted from Mathematica 2019 slides 16-19 rdquosurveyrdquo broadly defined here to include IBM as well as full household surveys Some administrative data should be verified using IBM or qualitative methods

14 15

WOMENrsquoS ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENT AND COVID IMPACTS

CGAP COVID-19 (coronavirus) ndash Insights for Inclusive Finance

International Labour Organization (ILO) COVID-19 and the World of Work

OECD Tackling Coronavirus (COVD-19)

UN Women Gender Equality Matters in COVID-19 Response

Glenbrook 2020 Emergency Disbursements during COVID-19 Regulatory Tools for Rapid Account Opening and Oversight

WOMENrsquoS ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENT AND SOCIAL PROTECTION

International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) 2020 ldquoWhy gender-sensitive social protection is critical to the COVID-19 response in low- and middle-income countriesrdquo IFFPRI Blog April 28

The Bill amp Melinda Gates Foundation 2019 ldquoDigitize Direct Design (D3) criteria and country studiesrdquo Findev Blog June 13

Womenrsquos World Banking (WWB) and Fundacioacuten Capital 2019 Five Principles for Building Womenrsquos Capacity for Digital Fi-nancial Services

EVIDENCE OF IMPACTS OF SOCIAL PROTECTION TRANSFERS ON WOMENrsquoS EMPOWERMENT

Bardani Elena and Gisela Garcia 2014 Social Safety Nets and Gender Learning From Impact Evaluations and World Bank Projects Washington DC World Bank

Bastagli Francesca et al 2016 Cash transfers what does the evidence say A rigorous review of programme impact and the role of design and implementation features London Overseas Development Institute

Beegle Kathleen Aline Coudouel and Emma Monsalve 2018 Realizing the Full Potential of Social Safety Nets in Africa Africa Development Forum series Washington DC World Bank

de la O Campos Ana Paula 2015 Empowering rural women through social protection Social Protection Division (ESP) Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations Technical Papers Series 2

Hagen-Zanker Jessica et al ldquoThe impacts of cash transfers on women and girls A summary of the evidencerdquo Overseas Development Institute

Hidrobo Melissa Neha Kumar Tia Palermo Amber Peterman and Shalini Roy 2020 ldquoGender-sensitive social protection A critical component of the COVID-19 response in low- and middle-income countriesrdquo IFPRI Issue Brief

Innovations for Poverty Action 2017 ldquoSocial Protection Expanding Economic Opportunities for the Poorestrdquo

Jones Nicola and Rebecca Holmes 2011 ldquoWhy is Social Protection Gender-blind The Politics of Gender and Social Protec-tionrdquo Institute of Development Studies Bulletin

DIGITIZATION

CGAP The Future of G2P Payments Expanding Customer Choice

Global Partnership for Financial Inclusion (GPFI) 2020 Advancing Womenrsquos Digital Financial Inclusion

GSMA Connected Women Accelerating Digital and Financial Inclusion for Women

The Better than Cash Alliance 2016 Responsible Digital Payments Guidelines

The Bill amp Melinda Gates Foundation Financial Services for the Poor 2018 Digital Finance Playbook Basic DFS Enablers

The Bill amp Melinda Gates Foundation 2019 ldquoDigitize Direct Design (D3) criteria and country studiesrdquo Findev Blog June 13

VII Appendix 4 Useful resources for Digital Cash Transfers in COVID

13

Domain Description Source

Direct

Womenrsquos inclusion Share of total recipients that are women Administrative

Womenrsquos exclusion Share of eligible women not benefiting from the program Survey

DigitizeShare of female recipients receiving benefits in an account (mobile or bank)

Administrative

Recipient owns or has access to a mobile phone or has SIM card registered in her name

Administrative

Regular receipt of G2P payments

Recipient received G2P payment into her account (mobile or bank) in the past 3090180 days

Administrative

Ownership of mobile moneybank account

Recipient owns a mobile moneybank account Administrative

Womenrsquos access to financial services

Number of access points per capita in a municipality as proxy measure

Administrative

Design

Womenrsquos capabilities Recipient is able to operate a mobile phoneATMPoint of Service terminal to make financial transactions

Survey

Number of transactions by recipient using her mobile moneybank account in the past 3090180 days

Survey

Recipient withdraws payment at agentATM herself without sharing her PIN

Survey

Knowledge of G2P programRecipient understands G2P program rules and eligibility and grievance reporting process

Survey

Paid employmentRecipient had any paid employment (including self-employed) in past month and earnings therefrom

Survey

Control over income and spending

Recipient has sole or joint control over household income and spending

Survey

Recipient has control over G2P program payments Survey

Mobility Recipient reports that she can freely visit the market health center friends house religious places -- alone

Survey

Source Adapted from Mathematica 2019 slides 16-19 rdquosurveyrdquo broadly defined here to include IBM as well as full household surveys Some administrative data should be verified using IBM or qualitative methods

14 15

WOMENrsquoS ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENT AND COVID IMPACTS

CGAP COVID-19 (coronavirus) ndash Insights for Inclusive Finance

International Labour Organization (ILO) COVID-19 and the World of Work

OECD Tackling Coronavirus (COVD-19)

UN Women Gender Equality Matters in COVID-19 Response

Glenbrook 2020 Emergency Disbursements during COVID-19 Regulatory Tools for Rapid Account Opening and Oversight

WOMENrsquoS ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENT AND SOCIAL PROTECTION

International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) 2020 ldquoWhy gender-sensitive social protection is critical to the COVID-19 response in low- and middle-income countriesrdquo IFFPRI Blog April 28

The Bill amp Melinda Gates Foundation 2019 ldquoDigitize Direct Design (D3) criteria and country studiesrdquo Findev Blog June 13

Womenrsquos World Banking (WWB) and Fundacioacuten Capital 2019 Five Principles for Building Womenrsquos Capacity for Digital Fi-nancial Services

EVIDENCE OF IMPACTS OF SOCIAL PROTECTION TRANSFERS ON WOMENrsquoS EMPOWERMENT

Bardani Elena and Gisela Garcia 2014 Social Safety Nets and Gender Learning From Impact Evaluations and World Bank Projects Washington DC World Bank

Bastagli Francesca et al 2016 Cash transfers what does the evidence say A rigorous review of programme impact and the role of design and implementation features London Overseas Development Institute

Beegle Kathleen Aline Coudouel and Emma Monsalve 2018 Realizing the Full Potential of Social Safety Nets in Africa Africa Development Forum series Washington DC World Bank

de la O Campos Ana Paula 2015 Empowering rural women through social protection Social Protection Division (ESP) Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations Technical Papers Series 2

Hagen-Zanker Jessica et al ldquoThe impacts of cash transfers on women and girls A summary of the evidencerdquo Overseas Development Institute

Hidrobo Melissa Neha Kumar Tia Palermo Amber Peterman and Shalini Roy 2020 ldquoGender-sensitive social protection A critical component of the COVID-19 response in low- and middle-income countriesrdquo IFPRI Issue Brief

Innovations for Poverty Action 2017 ldquoSocial Protection Expanding Economic Opportunities for the Poorestrdquo

Jones Nicola and Rebecca Holmes 2011 ldquoWhy is Social Protection Gender-blind The Politics of Gender and Social Protec-tionrdquo Institute of Development Studies Bulletin

DIGITIZATION

CGAP The Future of G2P Payments Expanding Customer Choice

Global Partnership for Financial Inclusion (GPFI) 2020 Advancing Womenrsquos Digital Financial Inclusion

GSMA Connected Women Accelerating Digital and Financial Inclusion for Women

The Better than Cash Alliance 2016 Responsible Digital Payments Guidelines

The Bill amp Melinda Gates Foundation Financial Services for the Poor 2018 Digital Finance Playbook Basic DFS Enablers

The Bill amp Melinda Gates Foundation 2019 ldquoDigitize Direct Design (D3) criteria and country studiesrdquo Findev Blog June 13

VII Appendix 4 Useful resources for Digital Cash Transfers in COVID

14 15

WOMENrsquoS ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENT AND COVID IMPACTS

CGAP COVID-19 (coronavirus) ndash Insights for Inclusive Finance

International Labour Organization (ILO) COVID-19 and the World of Work

OECD Tackling Coronavirus (COVD-19)

UN Women Gender Equality Matters in COVID-19 Response

Glenbrook 2020 Emergency Disbursements during COVID-19 Regulatory Tools for Rapid Account Opening and Oversight

WOMENrsquoS ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENT AND SOCIAL PROTECTION

International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) 2020 ldquoWhy gender-sensitive social protection is critical to the COVID-19 response in low- and middle-income countriesrdquo IFFPRI Blog April 28

The Bill amp Melinda Gates Foundation 2019 ldquoDigitize Direct Design (D3) criteria and country studiesrdquo Findev Blog June 13

Womenrsquos World Banking (WWB) and Fundacioacuten Capital 2019 Five Principles for Building Womenrsquos Capacity for Digital Fi-nancial Services

EVIDENCE OF IMPACTS OF SOCIAL PROTECTION TRANSFERS ON WOMENrsquoS EMPOWERMENT

Bardani Elena and Gisela Garcia 2014 Social Safety Nets and Gender Learning From Impact Evaluations and World Bank Projects Washington DC World Bank

Bastagli Francesca et al 2016 Cash transfers what does the evidence say A rigorous review of programme impact and the role of design and implementation features London Overseas Development Institute

Beegle Kathleen Aline Coudouel and Emma Monsalve 2018 Realizing the Full Potential of Social Safety Nets in Africa Africa Development Forum series Washington DC World Bank

de la O Campos Ana Paula 2015 Empowering rural women through social protection Social Protection Division (ESP) Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations Technical Papers Series 2

Hagen-Zanker Jessica et al ldquoThe impacts of cash transfers on women and girls A summary of the evidencerdquo Overseas Development Institute

Hidrobo Melissa Neha Kumar Tia Palermo Amber Peterman and Shalini Roy 2020 ldquoGender-sensitive social protection A critical component of the COVID-19 response in low- and middle-income countriesrdquo IFPRI Issue Brief

Innovations for Poverty Action 2017 ldquoSocial Protection Expanding Economic Opportunities for the Poorestrdquo

Jones Nicola and Rebecca Holmes 2011 ldquoWhy is Social Protection Gender-blind The Politics of Gender and Social Protec-tionrdquo Institute of Development Studies Bulletin

DIGITIZATION

CGAP The Future of G2P Payments Expanding Customer Choice

Global Partnership for Financial Inclusion (GPFI) 2020 Advancing Womenrsquos Digital Financial Inclusion

GSMA Connected Women Accelerating Digital and Financial Inclusion for Women

The Better than Cash Alliance 2016 Responsible Digital Payments Guidelines

The Bill amp Melinda Gates Foundation Financial Services for the Poor 2018 Digital Finance Playbook Basic DFS Enablers

The Bill amp Melinda Gates Foundation 2019 ldquoDigitize Direct Design (D3) criteria and country studiesrdquo Findev Blog June 13

VII Appendix 4 Useful resources for Digital Cash Transfers in COVID

15

Endnotes

1 Acknowledgements This brief was produced as a collab-oration between the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation The World Bank Group Womenrsquos World Banking CGAP and Stanford University under the direction of Michael Wiegand at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Greta Bull Alfonso Garciacutea Mora Caren Grown Boutheina Guermazi and Michal Rutkowski from the World Bank Group as part of the G2Px Initiative and Mary Ellen Iskenderian from Womenrsquos World Banking This brief was authored by Jamie M Zimmerman and Maria A May of Financial Services for the Poor program at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and Elizabeth Kellison and Jeni Klugman of the Global Center for Gender Equality at Stanford University It has benefited from the contributions of several individuals across the World Bank Group including Gregory Chen Vyjayanti Desai Lucia Hanmer Alessandra Heinemann Leora Klapper Georgina Marin Anna Metz and Margaret Miller and across Womenrsquos World Banking including Sonia Kelly Sophie Theis and Andy Woolnough

2 CARE COVID-19 Could Condemn Women to Decades of Poverty Implications of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Womenrsquos and Girlsrsquo Economic Justice and Rights May 2020

3 ILO 2018 Women and men in the informal economy A statistical picture Third edition

4 UN Women 2020 ldquoPolicy Brief The Impact of COVID-19 on Womenrdquo Available at httpswwwunwomenorg-mediaheadquartersattachmentssectionslibrarypublications2020policy-brief-the-impact-of-covid-19-on-women-enpd-fla=enampvs=1406 World Bank Group 2020 ldquoGender Dimen-sions of the COVID-19 Pandemicrdquo World Bank Group httpdocumentsworldbankorgcurateden618731587147227244pdfGender-Dimensions-of-the-COVID-19-Pandemicpdf Peter-man Amber Alina Potts Megan ODonnell Kelly Thompson Ni-yati Shah Sabine Oertelt-Prigione and Nicole van Gelder 2020 ldquoPandemics and Violence Against Women and Childrenrdquo Center for Global Development httpswwwcgdevorgpublicationpan-demics-and-violence-against-women-and-children

5 The rapidly changing situation is being tracked by the World Bank which reports on COVID-19 related social protection program See live document here httpswwwugogentilininetwp-contentuploads202005Country-SP-COVID-responses_May22pdf

6 httpsblogsworldbankorgvoicesresponding-cri-sis-digital-payments-social-protection-short-term-mea-sures-long-term-benefits

7 httpswwwifpriorgblogwhy-gender-sensitive-social-pro-tection-critical-covid-19-response-low-and-middle-income

8 Julia Smith (2019) Overcoming the lsquotyranny of the urgentrsquo integrating gender into disease outbreak prepared-

ness and response Gender amp Development 272 355-369 DOI 1010801355207420191615288

9 International Bank for Reconstruction and Development 2014 ldquoSocial Safety Nets and Gender Learning from Impact Evaluations and World Bank Projectsrdquo World Bank Group httpsiegworldbankgrouporgsitesdefaultfilesDatareportsssn-gen-der-ie-full-reportpdf and IFPRI guidance Why gender-sensitive social protection is critical to the COVID-19 response in low- and middle-income countries

10 Enhancing Womenrsquos Economic Empowerment Through Digital Cash Transfers - DigitizeDirectDesign The D3 Criteria Chamberlin Kellison Klugman Zimmerman 2019 These criteria were developed in consultation with a global panel of financial inclusion gender and social-protection experts and partners It was adopted in 2019 into the World Bankrsquos Gender Smart Social Protection Rapid Social Response Fund and itrsquos criteria are being supported at tested through efforts like the World Bankrsquos cross GP G2Px program and Womenrsquos World Bankingrsquos policy support to several low-income governments

11 See The Bill amp Melinda Gates Foundation ldquoEqual is Great-errdquo website and key studies such as Campos (2015) See Hagen-Zanker et al 2016 at httpwwwcashlearningorgdownloads11374-odipdf See also Klapper 2016 where the author outlines positive results from countries such as Mexico Brazil and Iran which have greatly reducedmdashor eliminatedmdashthe gender gaps in account ownership in recent years by closing the account ownership gap via the digital G2P cash transfer system

12 In Chile the national ID-linked basic account ndash Cuenta Rut ndash which covers most low-income people will allow April payments of the ldquoBono COVID-19rdquo directly into the bank accounts of more than two million vulnerable Chileans In Peru authorities are leveraging earlier successes in channeling G2P through accounts to increase payments to old and new beneficiaries during the emergency and are expanding the set of financial service pro-viders ndash to include private banks microfinance institutions and mobile money providers like BIM ndash to reach additional benefi-ciaries The cash transfers aim to reach 68 million households and by default the transfer is made to the oldest woman in the household a male can be appointed if necessary The purpose of transferring the funds to women is to ensure that basic family needs are met See Better Than Cash Alliance Webinar httpswwwyoutubecomwatchv=2wY4cVD9kh4ampfeature=youtube Thailandrsquos recent reforms allow payments to be sent to bank accounts through its fully interoperable PromptPay system in the context of a rapidly emerging digital payments ecosystem reduces the need to cash out The payment to a unique national ID number (mapped in PromptPay to an account of choice by the beneficiary through their financial service provider) affords assurance that the payment is being made to an account owned by the intended beneficiary See World Bank blog httpsblogs

16 17

worldbankorgvoicesresponding-crisis-digital-payments-so-cial-protection-short-term-measures-long-term-benefits

13 Pande et al op cit httpsegcyaleedusitesdefaultfilesCOVID20Briefpdf

14 See for example pp 38-39 on Bihar India httpswwwfindevgatewayorgsitesdefaultfilespublicationsfilesd3finalre-portbiharpdf

15 Demirguumlccedil-Kunt Asli Leora Klapper Dorothe Singer San-iya Ansar and Jake Hess 2018 The Global Findex Database 2017 Measuring Financial Inclusion and the Fintech Revolution Washington DC World Bank (this stat includes men and women 15+)

16 Demirguumlccedil-Kunt Asli Leora Klapper Dorothe Singer Saniya Ansar and Jake Hess 2018 The Global Findex Database 2017 Measuring Financial Inclusion and the Fintech Revolution Washington DC World Bank (this stat includes men and women 15+)

17 Temitope Akin-Fadeyi ldquoEnhancing Financial Inclusion for Women in Nigeriardquo CGAP (blog) March 8 2016 wwwcgaporgblogenhancing-financial-inclusion-women-nigeria

18 Georgetown Institute for Women Peace and Security and Peace Research Institute Oslo Women Peace and Security Index 201718 Tracking Sustainable Peace through Inclusion Justice and Security for Women (Washington DC GIWPS and PRIO 2017)

19 M E Daacutevalos et al Voices of Europe and Central Asia New Insights on Shared Prosperity and Jobs (Washington DC World Bank 2016) httpdocumentsworldbankorgcurateden372521478680637391pdf109964-v2-REVISED-PUBLIC-Voices-ECA-MAIN-REPORT-EN-Digitalpdf

20 Leora Klapper ldquo5 Ways Digital Payments Can Bring Women into the Economyrdquo CGAP (blog) January 19 2016 wwwcgaporgblog5-ways-digital-payments-can-bring-women-economy

21 Hanmer Lucia C Elefante Marina 2019 Achieving Universal Access to ID Gender-based Legal Barriers Against Women and Good Practice Reforms (English) Washington DC World Bank Group httpdocumentsworldbankorgcurateden606011569301719515Achieving-Universal-Access-to-ID-Gender-based-Legal-Barriers-Against-Women-and-Good-Prac-tice-ReformsThe World Bankrsquos Women Business and the Law provides information on countries that place limitations on wom-enrsquos ability to apply for identification In 35 countries a married woman cannot apply for a passport through the same process as married men and in 11 countries married women cannot apply for an ID in the same way as married men

22 Inter Agency Social Protection Assessments Identification Systems for Social Protection 2020 httpsispatoolsorgtoolsID-Tool-Englishpdf

23 lsquoID4D Data Global Identification Challenge by the Numbers Insights from New ID4D-Findex Survey Data httpid4dworld-bankorgglobal-dataset

24 World Bank 2019 Global ID Coverage Barriers and Use by the Numbers An In-Depth Look at the 2017 ID4D-Findex Survey Washington DC World Bank

25 Author estimates based on Gallup World Poll httpswwwgallupcomanalytics232838world-pollaspx

26 GSMA report 2020 p 44-51

27 World Bank 2019 Global ID Coverage Barriers and Use by the Numbers An In-Depth Look at the 2017 ID4D-Findex Survey Washington DC World Bank httpdocumentsworld-bankorgcurateden727021583506631652pdfGlobal-ID-Coverage-Barriers-and-Use-by-the-Numbers-An-In-Depth-Look-at-the-2017-ID4D-Findex-Surveypdf

28 Barboni G et al A Tough Call Understanding Barriers to Mobile Phone Adoption and Use Evidence for Policy De-sign Available at httpsepodcidharvardedusitesdefaultfiles2018-10AToughCallpdf

29 Gallup World Poll GSMA 2020 ldquoConnected Women The Mobile Gender Gap Report 2020rdquo GSMA

30 The digital exclusion of women can be worse in humani-tarian settings A recent mixed methods study of mobile usage in Jordan (urban refugees) Rwanda (Kiziba refugee camp) and Uganda (Bidi Bidi refugee settlement) found that the gender gap was widest in Bidi Bidi where women are 47 percent less likely than men to own a mobile phone A range of methodolog-ical approaches were employed including nearly 3000 survey interviews and 55 focus group discussions as well as market observations and digital day snapshots with refugees and host community members See GSMA 2018 ldquoThe Digital Lives of Refugees How Displaced Populations Use Mobile Phones and What Gets in the Wayrdquo GSMA Available at httpswwwgsmacommobilefordevelopmentwp-contentuploads201907The-Digital-Lives-of-Refugeespdf

31 See Womenrsquos World Banking and Fundacion Capitalrsquos ldquoFive Principles for Building Womenrsquos Capacity for Digital Financial Ser-vicesrdquo which outlines the critical elements of financial capabili-ties needed by women and how best to design delivery of these components

32 Page 30 httpswwwfindevgatewayorgsitesdefaultfilespublicationsfilesd3finalreporttanzaniapdf

33 Ana Maria Buller Amber Peterman Meghna Ranganathan Alexandra Bleile Melissa Hidrobo Lori Heise A Mixed-Method Review of Cash Transfers and Intimate Partner Violence in Low- and Middle-Income Countries The World Bank Research Observ-er Volume 33 Issue 2 August 2018 Pages 218ndash258 httpsdoiorg101093wbrolky002

17

34 httpsdata2xorgwhere-are-the-gaps

35 This section draws heavily on the excellent IFPRI guidance -- httpswwwifpriorgblogwhy-gender-sensitive-social-protec-tion-critical-covid-19-response-low-and-middle-income

36 Enhancing Womenrsquos Economic Empowerment Through Digital Cash Transfers - DigitizeDirectDesign The D3 Criteria Chamberlin Kellison Klugman Zimmerman 2019 These criteria were developed in consultation with a global panel of financial inclusion gender and social-protection experts and partners

37 httpsblogsworldbankorgvoicesresponding-cri-sis-digital-payments-social-protection-short-term-mea-sures-long-term-benefits

38 World Bank Gender Innovation Lab Supporting Women throughout the Coronavirus Emergency Response and Rapid Recovery April 2020

39 Roessler Philip Flora Myamba Peter Carroll and Daniel Nielson 2016 ldquoFrom Mobile Phone Ownership to the Uptake and Usage of Digital Financial Services Experimental Evidence from Tanzaniardquo College of William and Mary

40 In Kenya fee waivers on person-to-person mobile money transactions on M-PESA were introduced on 17th March for three months for person-to-person transactions of under $10 following a directive from the President Uhuru Kenyatta ldquoto explore ways of deepening mobile-money usage to reduce risk of spreading the virus through physical handling of cashrdquo ndashResponses to the financial impacts of COIVD-19 through social cash transfers and digital payment infrastructure Caroline Pulver MicroSave Consulting

41 CGAP httpswwwcgaporgblogrole-cash-incash-out-digi-tal-financial-inclusion

42 See CGAP ldquoAgent Networks Vital to COVID-19 Response in Need of Supportrdquo available at httpswwwcariboudigitalnetwp-contentuploads202004Agent-Networks-and-COVID-19-MSC-and-Caribou-Datapdf and MSC ldquoThe Role of DFS Agents during the COVID-19 crisisrdquo available at httpswwwcariboud-igitalnetwp-contentuploads202004Agent-Networks-and-COVID-19-MSC-and-Caribou-Datapdf

43 Franccedilois Gerard Cleacutement Imbert and Kate Orkin 2020 So-cial Protection Response to the COVID-19 Crisis Options for Developing Countries

44 httpstimesofindiaindiatimescomindiaindia-post-de-livers-412cr-cash-in-doorstep-banking-revolutionarticle-show75367465cms

45 httpswwwinclusiongobecsegunda-fase-del-bono-de-proteccion-familiar-por-la-emergencia-inicia-en-mayo-con-550-mil-beneficiarios-mas

46 AM Buller et al ldquoA Mixed-Method Review of Cash Trans-fers and Intimate Partner Violence in Low- and Middle-Income Countriesrdquo World Bank Research Observer 33 no 2 (August 2018) 218ndash58

47 httpswwwunwomenorg-mediaheadquartersattachmentssectionslibrarypublications2020issue-brief-covid-19-and-ending-violence-against-women-and-girls-enpdfla=enampvs=5006

48 Better Than Cash Alliance Webinar May 13 Responsible Cash Payments During COVID ndash Lessons from Jordan Peru and Ghana httpswwwyoutubecomwatchv=2wY4cVD9kh4ampfea-ture=youtube

49 However a study from Yale found that 176 million poor women (53 percent) lack PMJDY accounts and will thus be missed in the cash transfers See Pande et al op cit httpsegcyaleedusitesdefaultfilesCOVID20Briefpdf

50 For further detail on examples see httpswwwfatf-gafiorgmediafatfdocumentsrecommendationspdfsGuid-ance-on-Digital-Identity-Appendice-Bpdf

51 The recent FATF Guidance on digital ID discusses alterna-tive approaches based on risk httpswwwfatf-gafiorgpublica-tionsfatfrecommendationsdocumentsdigital-identity-guidancehtml

52 Immediate relief for Pakistanrsquos pandemic-stricken poor World Bank Blogs May 04 2020

53 Shelby Bourgault and Megan ODonnell Womenrsquos Access to Cash Transfers in Light of COVID-19 The Case of Pakistan Center for Global Development JUNE 30 2020

54 Inter Agency Social Protection Assessments Identification Systems for Social Protection 2020 httpsispatoolsorgtoolsID-Tool-Englishpdf p 8

55 Brody Carinne Thomas de Hoop Martina Vojtkova Ruby Warnock Megan Dunbar Padmini Murthy and Shari L Dwor-kin 2017 ldquoEconomic Self-Help Group Programs for Improving Womenrsquos Empowermentrdquo Campbell Collaboration httpscamp-bellcollaborationorgmediak2attachments0219IDCGBrody-Self-helpPLSENpdf

56 ldquoThe Potential of Cash-Based Interventions to Pro-mote Gender Equality and Womenrsquos Empowermentrdquo 2019 World Food Programme httpsdocswfporgapidocumentsWFP-0000102755download-ga=21060083871969098551589217498-1439459583 1589217498

18 19

57 The World Bank 2020 ldquoIn India Womens Self-Help Groups Combat the COVID-19 (Coronavirus) Pandem-icrdquo World Bank Group World Bank Group April 11 httpswwwworldbankorgennewsfeature20200411wom-en-self-help-groups-combat-covid19-coronavirus-pandemic-in-diacid=SHRSitesShareTTENEXT

58 Peterman Amber Alina Potts Megan ODonnell Kelly Thompson Niyati Shah Sabine Oertelt-Prigione and Nicole van Gelder 2020 ldquoPandemics and Violence Against Women and Childrenrdquo Center for Global Development httpswwwcgdevorgpublicationpandemics-and-violence-against-wom-en-and-children

59 Ethiopiarsquos Productive Safety Nets Program has relaxed conditions so that people can receive benefits without doing the public works normally required Caroline Pulver May 2020 Gov-ernments around the world respond to the financial impacts of COVID-19 by leveraging social cash transfers and digital payment infrastructure MicroSave Consulting

60 httpswwwcgdevorgeventhousehold-headship-use-ful-concept-research-and-policy-conversation

61 httpswwwimforgenTopicsimf-and-covid19Policy-Re-sponses-to-COVID-19R

62 httpsafricanbusinessmagazinecomregioneast-af-ricarwanda-unveils-social-protection-for-the-vulnera-ble-during-covid-19

63 IFPRI blog httpswwwifpriorgblogwhy-gender-sensitive-social-protection-critical-covid-19-response-low-and-middle-in-come

64 Chandra Shreya Franco Ana Paula Hussam Reshmaan Rigol Natalia Roth Ben Sonchoy Abu Parves ldquoThe State of Social Benefits Payments during COVID-19rdquo

65 See Womenrsquos World Banking and Fundacion Capital Five Principles for Building Womenrsquos Capacity for Digital Financial Ser-vices

66 The A2i 333 (triple 3) hotline in Bangladesh has multiple services one of which was to serve as the GRM for G2P benefi-ciaries Based on the experience the Government of Bangladesh is working on a permanent call center httpsa2igovbdhelp-line-333 For India httpswwwcgdevorgpublicationbuild-ing-digital-id-inclusive-services-lessons-india

67 Franccedilois Gerard Cleacutement Imbert and Kate Orkin 2020 So-cial Protection Response to the COVID-19 Crisis Options for Developing Countries httpseconfiporgpolicy-briefsocial-pro-tection-response-to-the-covid-19-crisis-options-for-developing-countries

68 WIEGO ldquoGovernment responses to COVID-19 Crisisrdquo (April 23 2020) httpswwwwiegoorggovernment-respons-es-covid-19-crisis

69 WIEGO ldquoGovernment responses to COVID-19 Crisisrdquo (April 23 2020) httpswwwwiegoorggovernment-respons-es-covid-19-crisis

70 Doocy Shannon and Hannah Tappis 2017 ldquoCash-Based Approaches in Humanitarian Emergencies A Systematic Reviewrdquo Campbell Collaboration httpsonlinelibrarywileycomdoiepdf104073csr201717

71 de la O Campos Ana Paula and Elizabeth Garner 2014 ldquoWomenrsquos Resilience to Food Price Volatility A Policy Responserdquo Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations httpwwwfaoorg3i3617ei3617epdf

72 The Kerala program is being led by the department of women and child development but gendered information was not available for the programs in Jamaica and Nigeria

73 httpsblogsworldbankorgendpovertyinsouthasiaimmedi-ate-relief-pakistans-pandemic-stricken-poor

74 IFPRI blog httpswwwifpriorgblogwhy-gender-sensitive-social-protection-critical-covid-19-response-low-and-middle-in-come

75 Julia Smith (2019) Overcoming the lsquotyranny of the urgentrsquo integrating gender into disease outbreak prepared-ness and response Gender amp Development 272 355-369 DOI 1010801355207420191615288

76 (in Spanish) httpsandinapeagencianoticia-las-mu-jeres-familias-mas-pobres-cobraran-bono-extraordinario-789479aspx

77 Mathematica WEE-FI Global Evaluation Strategy Prepared for the Bill amp Melinda Gates Foundation November 2019

78 Johannes Hoogeveen and Andre-Marie Taptueacute Iterative Beneficiary Monitoring An Adaptive Approach to Enhancing the Implementation of World Bank Projects Poverty and Equity Note Number 4 April 2018 httpdocumentsworldbankorgcurateden377031522917012963pdf124975-REPL-PUBLIC-POV-Practice-Note-4-4-11pdf

79 As done in the World Bankrsquos Eastern DRC Recovery Project See Strengthening Gender Outcomes in Social Protec-tion and Poverty Focused Programs in South Sudan P169065 June 22 2019 httpdocumentsworldbankorgcurateden823291562245185167pdfStrengthening-Gender-Out-comes-in-Social-Protection-and-Poverty-Focused-Programs-in-South-Sudanpdf

80 httpswwwpovertyactionlaborgsitesdefaultfilesresearch-resourcespractical-guide-to-measuring-wom-ens-and-girls-empowerment-in-impact-evaluationspdf

19